Jentezen Franklin - Dig It
I'm reading one verse of scripture today, in verse 18 of Genesis 26. "And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them...", the wells, "He called the wells by the names which his father had called them". Notice what he said. It said that he "dug again", that Isaac dug again. I love that. He dug in the days of Abraham his father. Isaac dug again the wells of water.
And I want to talk to you a few moments today on "Dig It". Turn to somebody and say, "Dig it". I gave you a spoon when you came in today. How many of you've got your spoon? Hold it up. Let me see your spoons, all over the room, at every campus. How many of you got your spoon? Well, I'm asking God today to turn your spoon into a shovel and transform it, so that you can re-dig some wells that God wants to open up in your home and in your family. The wells that we're supposed to refresh and revive with living water, the Bible said the Philistines, the enemy of God's people, stopped them up, clogged them up, filled them up with dirt. It actually says that. Some translations say "earth", but that's dirt.
And therefore, there was no way for a new generation, Isaac and his generation. They couldn't get to the water that the father, Abraham and his generation, had dug. And it lets you know that a well is a pit or a hole sunk into the Earth to provide water. In other words, you can't get to the water unless you get down into the hole. And if you're in a hole today, in a low place, you're closer to the water than you've ever been. Wells in the Bible were important. They were hard to dig in ancient times. They didn't have drills. They didn't have the things that we have today with our modern technology.
And so, they were in a Middles Eastern terrain, dessert, dry, hot, extremely hot. And, it was a matter of life and death to find water. If you could find a well of water, you became very wealthy in Bible days. A well of water would be like an oil well to us today. And Abraham began to dig for water, and he struck it. But he understood that the time and the energy and the expense that he put in digging for this well was not only for him and his wife and his generation, but Abraham understood that "I'm digging a well for my son Isaac and his generation, my grandson Jacob, in his generation.
The Bible said in Proverbs 13:22, "A good man leaves an inheritance for his children's children..." Another way of saying that is, "A good church leaves an inheritance for their children's children". In other words, you don't just need a good church, but your children need a good church; and your children's children and your children's children's children one day, will need a good church, and we need to make sure that we have a perpetual spirit-filled church in every city where we have people that we want to reach.
The thing that I love about the well that we're preaching about today is it had been flowing for about a hundred years, and the well of water that I'm preaching about has been flowing for a long time. And there is a good chance that those of you who are here, your children will be drinking from this well and your grandchildren will be drinking from this well. God's dream for this ministry is that it go from generation to generation, that it go from glory to glory, that it go from faith to faith. And every time we love Truth and live it, we're securing a well for the next generation.
Genesis 26:18 said, when Abraham died — this is key. The Philistines waited until Abraham died, and then they filled the wells with dirt. The water was still flowing, but they blocked it and barricaded it. And they said, "Now that the old man with the white hair and the long beard named Abraham..." He would fight for the well. Some wells are worth fighting over. "And we couldn't do it while he was alive, but now that he's dead, the new generation won't defend the well and we can just throw dirt in it and we can serve mixed water. We can serve dirty water. We can serve... As a matter of fact, we can just drive the next generation out".
What I want you to understand is as soon as he died, they worked to cover up everything that he had accomplished. The old patriarch died. And I couldn't help, but wonder in my mind, I wonder if the devil just sits on the sideline, and he's waiting for some of the elders and some of the grandpas and grandmas and moms and dads in families to die out because they're committed and they got living water and they love the power and the water of the Holy Spirit, the river of the Holy Spirit. But the enemy knows that as soon as they die out, the well of that family, the family well, will dry up because they can pour dirt in. They can dirty up the water. They can dirty up the worship. They can dirty up the doctrine.
But I'm here to declare today that we are determined, in this ministry, that our children will drink from the same well that we drank from, that our grandchildren will drink from the same well that we drank from. They don't need some watered-down power of the Holy Spirit. They don't need some dirty water that's mixed with the world. What they need is one drink of living water, and they'll never thirst again. They'll never thirst again. We need and we must have an Isaac generation that will get the shovel and let the enemy know that you're not goin' take away everything the previous generation attained for us.
I'm saying today that the devil would love when all these white heads die off for something to change in your family. He's doing everything he can to stop. The Bible said in Joshua, "There arose another generation who knew not God or His mighty acts". We're in danger, under the time that we're in... I know the power. My mom and my dad dug a well and their parents dug wells. And for generations, three generations now, we've all been drinking. But the next generation, they are digging wells, and I'm not goin' let that mess get in my house. In the name of Jesus, my grandchildren, four of 'em, and one day, my great grandchildren, they're gonna have a well that I have dug through fasting and through prayer, and I keep getting the dirt out.
Every time we fast, the Holy Spirit'll bring the dirt up and He'll say, "Dish it out, shovel it out, get it out. Now, you're gonna feel the water again". The Bible said that, "they covered up the wells that Abraham named and Isaac re-dug those wells and he didn't change their names". I'm saying to you today that when you understand what I'm preaching, there's some things that we don't need to change the name to. The name, the wells represented somebody in a family who digs a well and they would name it after that person. And somewhere in your family roots there was a mother, there was a father, there was a grandparent, there was an aunt, there was an uncle — somebody dug a well and in heaven's memorial, their name is on that well.
That's why you couldn't stay where you were in sin. That's why you're sitting in a church this morning. Somebody dug a well. You don't even know why you keep coming, but they dug a well. And it's not that the water's still not there for the family, it's just you let the Philistines put too much dirt in. But if you will just start reaching out for God, if you'll just get that spoon and you'll say, "God, I'm goin' do some digging this week, I know there's some water". And before you know it, slosh, you're going to hit the river that your granny had because it's still there. Healing is still there. Revival is still there. Family household salvation is still there.
I don't care how messed up your children are, I don't are how far from God they are, there's a well in your house. Somebody dug it. And if you'll dig, you're gonna hit the water. You're gonna hit the water. The problem is, we've gotten used to drinking muddy water. And we've gotta long to drink from those old wells, again. Re-dig the wells and don't rename 'em. You've still got to repent from sin and forsake your sin, and I'm not goin' rename it for this generation. You still have to be washed in the blood of the Lamb, baptized in water and baptized in the Holy Ghost. And I'm not goin' rename that well. You still gotta "come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord". And I'm not goin' rename that well.
There's only two destinations that you can be headed to in eternity. It's either heaven or it's hell, and I'm not going to rename it to be politically correct in the church and preach a Cool-Whip gospel. You're goin' to heaven or you're goin' to hell. You're livin' right or you're livin' wrong. You're a hypocrite or you're a sold-out Christian with a cross on your back. But there is no middle ground, and I'm not goin' rename the well. He said, "I wish you were hot or I wish you were cold; but if you're lukewarm, I'll spew you out of My mouth".
If you're living in sin, you're a sinner and you're gonna go to hell. And I'm not goin' rename that well. I'm not mad. I don't hate you. I love you enough to tell you the truth. You can't have joy with one foot in the world, getting drunk, half the time, getting high, half the time, and then running to God on Sunday. It doesn't work that way. I'm not goin' rename the well. And the reason you're not satisfied is you're not drinking pure water. You're drinking dirty water. Man, I feel like preaching. I'm telling you, this is real. What I got a hold of is real. What's in Acts 2 is real. But you gotta get the dirt out of your life.
I want to give you a couple of wells, three of 'em, that we need to re-dig. We've got to re-dig the well of worship at Free Chapel. We cannot lose the well of worship. We've got to keep the worship opened up. We can't let the devil throw the dirt of pride and intimidation of what people will say. The only reason some of you don't raise your hands is 'cause you're full in yourself, in pride and intimidation. And the reason we got so many teen-sicles is because we've got so many pop-sicles. And if the teen-sicles would see Pop raising his hands and praising God, then guess what? It would move down the line in the family. You don't have the luxury of not coming to church and worship in the 21st century.
Demons are coming after your family. You better get you a sensor of worship and start saying, "Devil, get out of my house, get out of my children, get out of my marriage. I worship my way to the throne of God and to the victory that Calvary has won". You gotta re-dig the well of worship. Hell's told some of you, "Your children don't even come to church anymore. They don't even talk about God anymore. They ain't go'n' never come back to church". But you're turning that spoon into a shovel. And it looks like it's just a little thing instead of pudding, banana pudding. You're getting the dirt out. Instead of chocolate cake, instead of steak - 'Cause I'd try to eat it with a spoon. That's how bad I want it. "Despise not the day of small things...", 'cause God told me to tell you that even if you haven't seen 'em and they won't come to church and they don't talk about God anymore, there is a river, there is a well in that family, and all it needs is an Isaac generation to start re-digging.
The well of sacrifice. Sacrifice has been sacrificed in this generation. We don't want it to cost us anything. Easy-believe-ism. We've abandoned sacrifice. God didn't stutter when He said, "Abraham, take your boy to the mountain and sacrifice him as a burnt offering to Me". God didn't say, "I suggest you do it". God didn't beat around the bush. God required it. You wanna be blessed? It requires sacrifice. You want an anointing a thousand times stronger than you are today? It requires sacrifice.
I've been preaching a long time and I know the Bible pretty good, and I'mma tell you, if I have to sacrifice, I can't lean on nothing in my past, no anointing from the past. All I can do is every year take the spoon and turn it into a shovel and say, "Get the dirt out, get the dirt out, get the earth out, get the carnality out, get the flesh out, and fill me again," because I'm not just digging for me, but I'm digging for Courteney and Caressa, Caroline, Connar, Drake, Amelia, Collette, Luca, Leo — my grandchildren. They've got to feel this. They've got to experience this. Their children has gotta experience this, or it won't be real.
This dirty water, this dirty worship, this mixture of the world and the spirit — it doesn't work. It's not powerful. And it requires sacrifice. God will never take what you don't want; but He'll ask you for what you love. I'm preaching better than you're letting on; but I'm just go'n' tell you - Listen to this. God is not your garbage collector. God is not your Goodwill store where you give Him the time and the money and anything else that you have leftover that you really don't want. This is not - This church is not a massage parlor to make you feel good. It's not a Love Boat. This is a battleship. And every now and then, it requires sacrifice. It requires you taking the shovel and saying, "I'm getting the dirt of my own carnality out and I'mma sacrifice to God".
And lastly, I'mma re-dig the well of faith. Jesus said, "When I come back..." Listen to the question He had. "...will I still find faith in the earth"? In other words, will anybody be preaching healing anymore? Anointing with oil? Laying on of hands? Will anybody be preaching the baptism in the Holy Ghost? Speaking with other tongues? Prophesying? Will anybody be preaching miracles, signs, and wonders? Or will the church just be a bunch of professionals? Paul said, "I do not come to you with enticing words of man's wisdom, but I come in demonstration of the power of the Holy Ghost". But it's what we need desperately in this church.
How do you unclog the well of faith? You get the dirt of unbelief and doubt out. I believe my children will be saved. I believe my body will be healed. I believe my finances will prosper and be blessed. God, You can do it. Say it, everybody. God, You can do it. Say it again. I believe. I want the dirt of unbelief out. I want the dirt of doubt out. Say, "God, You can do it again". Some of you, buried your faith. Lazarus died, and his sisters and family put him in the tomb and buried their faith and said, "It's too late". And some of you have children and grandchildren, and it looks like they're dead spiritually. They don't talk about God anymore. They don't come to church anymore. But God knows how to move stones.
Re-dig the well of faith and you'll start saying, "As for me and my house..." I don't walk by what I see; I walk by what I hear. And I believe this over anything I see going on with any of my children. I've had - I'm living in victory in this area right now. Every one of my kids are loving God, serving God. I'm so thrilled and I'm so happy. But we fought hell. We fought demons. We fought devils. And I said it when I was going through it. "As for me and my house, we will serve..."
I reminded the devil I would re-dig that well and say, "You know what? You just have your hay-day; but one day, when this is over, those kids are goin' torment you. One of these days, devil, I'm gonna make you pay. One of these days, you're gonna break out in a revival at Forward Conference and you're gonna pour out your spirit on 14.000 teenagers at one time just because you messed with my children". "Upon your sons and your daughters, I will pour out My Spirit". It's coming. Muddy water has become the norm. Powerless Pentecost has become the norm. When we have more deserts than we have downpours, we need to re-dig the well.
When we have more perversion in the church than we do power, we need to re-dig the well. When we have more playboys in the pulpit than prophets, we need to re-dig the well. When we have more compromise than convictions... When's the last time you added to your conviction list? I know you're saved by grace and grace set you free and you can mark that off your conviction list and - "I used, I can do that, and I can do that..." Well, when's the last time you added something to your conviction list? We need a fresh baptism of power. You'll never have a public powerful manifestation of God's power and glory, you'll never have a public powerful manifestation, until you have a private conversation with God in prayer.