Jentezen Franklin - Get Up, Get Out, Get Through
I want you to look with me in Acts 12. Acts 12:6. "And when Herod was about to bring him out that night, Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers. And the guards before the door were keeping the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him. A light shone in the prison. And he struck Peter on the side, and raised him up, saying, 'Arise, quickly'", the King James says, "Get up", "...And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, 'Gird yourself. Tie on your sandals.' And so he did. And he said to him, 'Put on your garment and follow me.' He went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real".
That's an astonishing thing. "But thought that he was seeing a vision". But when he went past the first and second door or gatepost, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened of its own accord. And they went out, and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed. "And when Peter had come to himself, he said, 'Now I know for certain.'" In other words, he wasn't certain this was all real. He didn't even have faith to believe that what was happening was happening. "...He said, 'Now I know for certain that the Lord sent an angel and delivered me from the hand of Herod and from the expectation of the Jewish people".
And I wanna talk to you today about Get Up, Get Out, and Get Free. How to do it. How to do it. Peter was arrested by King Herod. He was put in prison and being held for execution. Herod gave specific orders. Make sure this man never gets loose. He is never to break out of prison. He's gonna die in prison. I'm gonna execute him and silence his voice forever. He said to those over this prison, it is your job to keep this man from breaking free. We have an enemy who has decided that his job is to keep every believer from breaking free. The evening before the execution, we're told that there was an upgrade in the security.
So much so that the Bible said that two chains were attached to Peter on his hands. One of the chains was connected to the wall and his hands to bind his hands. We know this from history. One of the other chains: there were two chains, and one of the chains was connected around his ankles to stop his feet from going anywhere. If that wasn't enough, the upgrade in security also, according to the text, included two solders at all times, there were four different shifts. But two would stand, one on one side, one on the other side, making sure that if he got free from the chains, he still had two armed killer guards standing on both sides of him. And if that were not enough, he had two prison gates that he had to go through before he got to the large iron gate, massive gate. And behind that gate was a warden, the keeper of the prison, who was watching also. I mean, we're talking about strict, strict security. And if he could get out of one situation, he would have to go through another, and another, and another.
In other words, it seems nothing on Earth could get him out. But we're not limited, ladies and gentlemen, to Earthly help. Our strength is not in horses and chariots, the Bible declares. Our strength is not in Navy SEALS shimmying down a rope, and putting explosives on the iron gate, and busting us out with machine guns, and rocket fire, and all kinds of protection. But the Bible says the spiritual prison that the enemy wants to hold us in, the devil thinks, I've got you this time. I've got two chains on you. I've got two guards on you. I've got two gates in front of you. And if that's not enough, an iron gate that you could never move. And if that's not enough, a prison guard who is over the whole prison is watching you. There is no way out. But I wanna remind you that the Bible said, "...He that the Son sets free, is free indeed".
Two chains. I wanna talk about those two chains for just a moment. Two chains. One on the hands. One on the feet. I believe that, that speaks of the twin chains of fear and doubt. Many of you have great things ahead of you. Many of you have big things coming in your life. But the enemy would love to chain you, and stop you, and stop your feet from going forward. Stop your life from moving out into the unknown by two chains: the chain of fear, and the chain of doubt. Fear that says you can't go where you're supposed to go. You can't do what you need to do. You don't have what it takes. The fear of someone: of what someone might say, of what someone might think. You might fail. You might get laughed at. What if you don't have it? What if you're not good enough? What if you're not smart enough?
The chain of fear. And its twin is the chain of doubt. Not just doubting if God will help you, because that's what the enemy loves to do. Question and make you doubt. Is God for me? Is God on my side? And if he can't get you to doubt that, one of the biggest ways the enemy will keep you bound is to make you doubt your own ability. Your own giftedness. Your own call. Your own talent. Maybe you doubt if you're good enough. You doubt if you've got it. You doubt if you're talented enough, or smart enough, or good-looking enough. All those things.
The enemy can put chains on us to say you just don't have what it takes. And the chain of fear on one part of you, and the chain of doubt on the other side of you. I doubt it's gonna happen. I doubt I can make it. But I've come today to remind you that the Bible declares God has not given you the spirit of fear. Of intimidation. Of timidity. Of being afraid and backing up. If there's an opportunity that God wants to bring into your life, don't you dare let the chain of fear and the chain of doubt hold you back from God's very best for your life.
Shake off the chain of fear. Shake off the chain of doubt. There are miracles in your future. Let God liberate you from fear and from doubt. Get your hands free. Get your voice free. Get your feet free. Shake off the twin chains of fear and doubt. And then, if the enemy can't hold him with that, if somehow, miraculously, I mean, he couldn't, it seemed there was no way to get out of that. But if he did, then he had two guards on either side.
I believe those guards represent, one of them represents discouragement. Because you're gonna encounter those guards on the journey to your dream. You're gonna have to confront your fear, and you're gonna have to overcome your doubt, and you're gonna have to break free from those chains. But as soon as you do, there will be a guard who will stand, and his name is discouragement, and another guard on the other side called intimidation. And they'll do everything they can to try to talk you out of, and beat you down, and cause you to stay down.
I'm sure on the other side of that big gate, where that warden of the prison was was hurling insults. You don't have what it takes. You're nobody. You're nothing. You can't do nothing. You'll never amount to anything. These are the voices and the instruments of the enemy that he will use to hold you back from the purpose, and plan, and dream that God has for your life. Two chains. Two soldiers. The keeper of the door. But then the story shifts suddenly. It uses the word suddenly.
A light shone into the prison. That light, shining light into the darkness, was the shining light of hope, and victory, and the Word. Because it doesn't matter how bound the enemy has you in fear, and doubt, and intimidation, and in discouragement today. Wherever you are, at whatever campus, or wherever you're watching this by television, or listening streaming live, the enemy would love for you not to hear this message. He knows that if he's got you chained with fear and doubt, and intimidation and discouragement, you're not going anywhere. But when the light of the gospel, that's why it's so powerful to sit in a service like this.
The gospel can shine the light of hope. The light of faith. The light that can bring victory into the dark prison. And suddenly, notice the chains are still there. The guards are still there. The iron gates are still there. The warden is still there. Nothing has changed except the light of the gospel is hitting. And when the light shines, the next thing that happens is the voice of an angel that says, and I'm your angel today, The voice of the angel that says, "Get up". "Get up". That's my message. And it's simple, and it's plain.
When you think there's no way out, don't just sit there rattling your little chains of fear, and doubt, and intimidation, and discouragement, and talking about how big they are. Because here's the point. When I'm down here, the guards look so big. When I'm down here, the gates look so big. When I'm down here, the discouragement looks so great. But when I decide to get up, it's amazing. They're not as big as I thought they were. They're not as great as I thought they were. That's why we can't afford to sit around playing the victim game, and sitting around feeling sorry for yourself. You have to get up in life and say I am not sitting here the rest of my life. Get up.
Turn to your neighbor and say, "Get up". And then the angel said, "Put your shoes on". Did you catch that? You're going somewhere. Shout we're going somewhere. Don't sit there. You've set there wiggling your toes long enough. In chains of fear and doubt. With guards of intimidation and discouragement. Get your shoes on. Stand up. Get up. Get your shoes on. It's time to move. It's time to march. It's time to get out of here. It's time to put your walking shoes on. You're going where you've never gone before, and God wants you to go with confidence that His angel is going before you.
I can't tell you when it happened, but all I know is, the Bible said when he stood up and put his shoes on, the chains fell off. That's a miraculous thing. I wonder if he'd have got up the day before or the day before if the chains wouldn't have fallen off. When you're ready to get up, all you have to do is get up. 38 years, a man waited by a pool for somebody to pick him up. And some of you need to quit waiting on everybody to have to pick you up. To talk you into your own victory.
Sometimes you have to do like David, and encourage yourself, and get up. Put your shoes on, and say I'm moving forward. Get up and go to church. Get up and start praising God. Get up and start believing God. Quit feeling sorry for yourself and having a pity party, and get up. And put your shoes on, and say I'm not gonna live here in discouragement, intimidation, fear, and doubt. I'm going somewhere, and here I go. And I don't know what happened to the soldiers. I don't understand this. But the next thing that happened is the Bible said the angel said put your garment on. Put your coat on. Put your coat on. That speaks of the garment of praise.
So you get up, and the problems don't look so big. You put on the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. You put on the shoes of faith so that you walk by faith, not by sight. And I don't know, we're not told what happened to the guards. They just disappeared. I don't know if they got slain in the spirit and fell down. I don't know. We don't have an answer. All we know is the thing that was holding him back so long didn't even matter when God said get up. Put your garment of praise on, put your shoes of faith on, and go at the sound of my voice. Suddenly, the guards of intimidation and discouragement could not hold him anymore. You have to get up.
And I don't know what happened to those soldiers, but the thing that Peter feared the most simply disappeared. The perspective is a lot different down there, than up here, and God wants us up. And you might've come in just bound and determined that you're just gonna sit through another service. And the chain of fear and doubt has you, and you're not expecting God to do anything. And then, on top of that, you've been discouraged. And on top of that, you're intimidated. But the light is shining right on you in that seat where you're sitting. And I'm preaching to you, saying get up. Put the garment of praise on. Put your shoes on. Say I'm going somewhere. I'm not staying here.
The two soldiers of discouragement and intimidation didn't have anything else to say when that happened. The keeper of the prison that was so brave, trash-talking behind the gate, when the chains fell off, when the guards disappeared, I like this. I love the fact that when he stood up and started walking by faith, put his shoes on, had the garment of praise on, he didn't even have to worry about the doors. All he had to do was push the door and keep walking.
Listen, the doors were already unlocked. The doors to your destiny are already unlocked. God's waiting on you to get enough courage to take a step of faith. And all you're required to do, it doesn't take, you don't have to have, I don't know how that door's going to open. I'm just moving toward it, and I'm praising God. I got the garment of praise on, I got up, I got my shoes of faith on, and here I go. And the moment he would push on the door, the door was already unlocked. And he went to another door, and the door was already unlocked. And when he got to the prison gate, the big iron gate, the one that the warden was talking trash from, I could hear the warden in my mind. He was saying things like, you don't have what it takes, and you're not gonna make it, and you're no good, and you ought to just give up.
But now, when he sees Simon Peter coming with a garment on, shoes on, he's standing tall, walking by faith, he takes off and runs. The Bible said, "Humble yourself before the mighty hand of God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you". He went through the first ward, went through the second ward, and when they got there, they were unlocked. All the time, he was held back by doors that were not even locked. Some of you don't understand. There will be doors that look closed. But as you walk by faith, at the right time, God will make those doors open. Your job is to keep moving. Keep moving. Keep moving.
It's not my job to push the door open. My job is to keep moving, walking by faith, having the garment of praise on. And I'm to get up and keep moving. And if you'll do that, every door that is the door to your destiny and God's plan for your life will, you thought they would be locked, but when you get there, the favor of God will open those doors. The favor of God will open those doors.
And here's my favorite part of this little story. The whole time, what encourages me, is Simon Peter didn't really believe what was going on. I thought he was some giant of faith. I thought he had such faith that he, you know, was believing, Oh, that door is gonna open, It was none of that. He was being carried by God's spirit. And he didn't even have faith, and he didn't even believe that it was real. He thought he was dreaming the whole time. He thought that it was too good to be true. And it wasn't until he got outside and the fresh air hit his face, it wasn't 'til he got outside, and he was completely free that he said, "Now I know for real".
Now I don't know. Maybe that don't do nothing for you, but it really encourages me that he didn't have great faith, nor was he totally convinced. But God, with just a little faith, not great faith, not being totally convinced. But if you will get up, if you will shake off the chain of fear and doubt, and not listen to the guard of discouragement and intimidation, and use just a little bit of faith to keep moving forward, with a little faith, chains fell off. With a little faith, guards disappeared. With a little faith, iron gates opened of their own accord. With a little faith, the warden started running for his life. And with a little faith, he walked out. Because he got up, he got out, he got free.
And it wasn't great faith. It was just a little faith. I'm saying to you today that the doors are already unlocked, and the iron gate is already opening. I prophesy that big doors are swinging wide open for God's people. And don't you let the chain of fear, and don't you let the chain of doubt, and don't you let the guard of intimidation, and don't you let the guard of discouragement tell you you don't belong here. You go, and you say what I tell you to say, and do what I tell you to do. Because I'm the God who opens doors no man can shut. If you're supposed to be there, God will get you there if you'll get up, put the garment of praise on, put the shoes on your feet, and keep moving.
Shout keep moving. The doors are already unlocked. I believe today is a day of freedom. Freedom from fear. Freedom from doubt. Freedom from bondage, addiction, sin. If you're under the sound of my voice, and you would say Pastor Jentezen, you're preaching to me. I know I'm not free. I know I'm not right with God. I know that I need God's power and God's grace to cleanse me and make me whole. And I wanna leave this building today that I'm standing in set free by the power of the blood of Jesus Christ and His mighty name. Would you pray for me, Pastor? I want to be free today. If that's you, boldly raise your hand wherever you're standing at every campus.
This is beautiful. This is powerful. Many, many hands. Raise them high and unashamed. There's no shame. See, this is putting your shoes on. This is putting your garment on. The moment you do that, chains are breaking, and guards are disappearing, and wardens are running. No more chains. No more guards. No more. No more lies. No more closed doors. God has a big plan for my life, and it's time for me to cooperate.
Alright, come on. I'll let you now. Come on, come on, come on. At every campus, get out of your seat. Step out of your seat. You feel that. That's the spirit of God. That's the light shining in your dark prison. Don't stay there. If you'll get up, the chains will fall off. If you'll get up, the guards will disappear. If you'll get up, the warden will run in terror because God is with you, and His angel goes before you. Here they come. I want everybody to celebrate the harvest. Come on, come on, come on, come on, come on. Freedom is available today from intimidation, discouragement, fear, doubt, and unbelief. Come on. keep coming.
Something will happen to you when you get out of that seat and walk down that aisle. Something will happen to you. Chains will fall off. Come on. Don't let fear hold you back. We're gonna pray this prayer. I want everybody to say this words out loud right where you're standing. And when you do, spiritually, you're standing up. Chains are falling off, doors are opening, guards are fleeing, and you're gonna be like it's a dream. But it's not a dream. It's real. We're overcomers by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. Everybody, pray this prayer out loud:
Lord Jesus, I surrender completely. My life, my body, my mind, my future - I completely surrender to you. I refuse, according to Your Word to be held back with the chain of fear and the chain of doubt any longer. I refuse to allow intimidation and to allow discouragement to defeat me another day. The doors that are closed, God, has already unlocked and I am taking a step of faith. And as I move forward, every door will be unlocked. And thank you, God, that the iron gate, the big door is swinging wide open for my life, and I am free in Jesus Christ right now.