Jentezen Franklin - Miracles Knocking At Your Door
I wanna preach for a faith-building experience right there in your home. I love that story in 2 Kings 4 where the prophet asks, "What do you have in your house"? The woman needed a miracle. The woman needed God to do something for her family because her sons were being taken into slavery to pay a debt that her husband had died and left her with. And in Bible days, they could arrest the children and enslave them if the parents didn't pay the bill. And she went to the prophet, and the prophet said "What do you have in your house"? That tells me that what's in your house can hinder revival or it can help revival.
And it's amazing to me that we're living in a time where the emphasis is on our homes more than our church. It's something how that the Bible commands us to bless one another and to be there for one another. But there's 18 times in the Book of Acts it talks about the church. But listen to this. There's 39 times in the Book of Acts where it talks about and says the word home or house. Our present situation of being quarantined would not have stopped the New Testament church. It would not have stopped and does not stop the persecuted church in China. In Muslim nations that are radical and forbid Christians to have services. They can't go to a building to have church. They have to have church in their home with their family.
The New Testament is filled with stories not of miracles in churches or synagogues, but it's filled with - 39 times, the Book of Acts says that miracles happened, blessings were poured out, Holy Spirit power was poured out in people's homes and in their houses. The Bible said in Acts 2, when the Holy Spirit was poured out - perhaps the most famous church scripture. The beginning. The birthplace of the New Testament church was Acts 2. And it was not poured out - the Holy Spirit, on the Day of Pentecost, was not poured out in a sanctuary. It was poured out in a man's home. In the second floor of that home, called the Upper Room. I've been in that room. I've been in where they think that is. And I assure you, it's not very big.
Did you know that God could pour out the Holy Spirit on your living room right where you are? There's spiritual proof of that in the Bible in Acts 2. It started - the outpouring of the Holy Spirit started in a home. In Acts 9, Ananias was told by God, listen to this in Acts 9:11, "Go to a street called Straight, and you'll meet a man there named Judas. And he has a person in one of his rooms by the name of Saul of Tarsus. And you are to lay hands on him, and I'm gonna heal him. He's a chosen vessel, and I'm gonna use him".
Now I want you to think about this. We know that Saul of Tarsus became Paul the Apostle after hands were laid on him and he was filled with the Holy Spirit. Where did that happen? It did not happen in a sanctuary, a temple, or a church. It happened in a man's home where God said, I know what street that man lives on. It's called Straight Street. I think God had Paul in a house on Straight Street 'cause he needed to be straightened out. He was trying to kill all the Christians, and God was about to radically change him. But think of what I'm saying. The greatest apostle in the world, the man who wrote half the New Testament - God said, go to a street called Straight in a certain house where a man lives. I know his address, and I've got a chosen vessel that I'm going to use.
Do you know God knows your address? And God can do the most incredible miracles in your house. In Acts 10, one chapter over, there's a man who is a Gentile. Not a Jewish man, but a Gentile by the name of Cornelius. And he loved God, and he was praying. And God sent Simon Peter to his house. An angel said follow me to this man's house. And when he gets to the man's house, this Gentile - the Bible said, and while Peter - this in Acts 10:44. And while Peter spoke these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them who heard the word. Where was the word being talked? In their living room. He brought his whole family in. He was a Gentile.
I want you to understand that none of us Gentiles - I'm a Gentile. Unless you're Jewish by descent, you're a Gentile. And none of us would be in the kingdom of God had it not been for an outpouring on a house. It fell. The Bible said the Holy Spirit fell on the house. And while Peter was teaching, the Holy Spirit was poured out in the living room. And they heard them. They were all filled with the Holy Ghost - this is in Acts 10. And they spoke with tongues, and magnified God, and they heard them glorifying God. That happened in a house. The Holy Ghost can fall on your house. The great power of the Holy Ghost that filled the Upper Room - that was not a church, but a house - can fill the room where you are, and heal your body, and break the power of bitterness and anger off of your family. Unforgiveness. And heal every wound and bring revival. Bring the backsliders. Bring the alcoholics. The drug addicts. The depressed. The defeated. The worried. Those that are confused and at the point of hopelessness.
The power of the Holy Spirit can reach you in your home. He knows your address. Let me show you another one in Acts 12:12. The Bible said Peter had been imprisoned, and there was a woman named Rhoda who was having a prayer meeting in her house. And because the church was praying - not in a sanctuary, but in her house, they were praying - did you know that God doesn't just hear prayers of a preacher prayed in a sanctuary for people? But God hears prayers that are prayed in a person's house? Because Rhoda and all of the believers had gathered in her living room. And they got down on their knees in the living room. They said turn the TV off. Turn the Internet off - except for that preacher. Turn everything - turn Facebook - whatever it is that's distracting us. The ringing of the phones. Turn it off.
We've got a desperate situation. And they got down on their knees. This is right in your Bible in Acts 12:12. And while they were praying, Simon Peter was released from prison. From chains and bondage, to come to the house where they were praying. And he started knocking on the door. Can I tell you that miracles are knocking on your home right now? They're knocking on your door. God knows where you live, and He says I can bring miracles - not just in sanctuaries, and crusades, and mighty gatherings of believers, and conferences. I can bring a miracle to your door. And when they opened the door, there was a miracle standing at their door. Miracles are knocking on your door.
In Acts 16, the Bible said that Paul and Silas in the midnight hour sung their way out of the darkness. Sung their way out of chains and bondage. They began to sing and praise God. And an earthquake hit, and the chains fell off of them, and they were released from prison. And the Bible said the jailer said, "What must I do to be saved"? And I love the answer that's given in Acts 16:31: "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved, and your house"... Wow. That today, every one of you can claim that promise. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and not only will you be saved, but your whole house is gonna get saved.
I believe that God has us on location, all together in our homes, and He's saying get in touch with your parents. Get in touch with your family. Get in touch with your brothers, your sisters, your moms, your dads, your sons, your daughters. Couples, pray together. Families, pray together. I wanna save the whole house. I wanna save your cousins. I wanna save those on drugs. I wanna save those who haven't been to church in decades. I wanna save moms, and dads, and sons, and daughters, and - I want to save the whole house. In Acts 20, Paul said this in verse 20: "I taught you publicly and," listen to this, "house to house".
You know, we think of these great preachers, and the great Apostle Paul, you know? We see 'em up on the platform, with tens of thousands of people coming out to hear him. And he's sitting in one of those big preacher chairs like we used to sit in in days gone by, you know? And now we're going to present the great Apostle Paul. And he'd come up, and grab a microphone and a Bible, and stand like Billy Graham and preach. But notice what it said in Acts 20:20. I taught you publicly and house to house.
In Acts 21:8, it said that there was a man by the name of Philip the evangelist. And when Samaria needed revival, God sent Philip down to Samaria. And the Bible said an amazing revival happened in Samaria. And they brought their witchcraft, and they brought their curious arts, and they burned them, and they just had a revival. And the whole city, the Bible said - tens of thousands were filled with the spirit, and the whole city was filled with joy. But then you read something else. And we only think of that great revival there, but listen to what else happened. He was an evangelist not only to a whole nation and a whole city of Samaria, but he was an evangelist in his own home. Because the Bible said this about Philip the evangelist.
It said in Acts 21:8, which is called the house of Philip the evangelist. And years later, the Bible said he was at home, after a city-wide revival, with his daughters. I think it said he had four daughters. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they prophesied, and his wife. We need people who'll be like Philip and evangelize their home. We need people who will become evangelists to their own family. Gifted to reach people in their own family. His home became a center for evangelism. God can do miracles in your home. Start sharing Jesus. Start talking about Jesus. Start speaking of Jesus. Start reading the scriptures in your homes since you're there. God wants to visit your family. Become an evangelist to your own family. God can do miracles in your home.
I remember when I was growing up. My granddaddy - Granddaddy Stone was an amazing man. He had 28 children. And he was an amazing man. But the most powerful thing that I remember about Granddaddy's house - he had a beautiful home. But I can remember pulling up at Thanksgiving. Pulling up at Christmas. Pulling up on Easter Sunday sometimes. And we would eat - my God, we would eat like horses. You've never seen so many cakes. I'm talking about hundreds of people in my family. I'm still meeting cousins that I didn't even know I had. But when we would pull up, my granddaddy - in his living room - you'll love this. He had a piano on one side. It was a big room. You could get in that room - it was about the size of this stage. And we would cram in there.
And those who couldn't get in would be outside, and outside and up on the staircase. It's hard to describe it. It was a massive room. He had a piano on one side of the room, and he had an organ - you know, like the old church organs. Yeah. A Hammond B3 on the other side, right in his living room. That's how I grew up. And when I started to learn how to play the piano - my uncle Michael was a concert pianist, and a professor in a university, and played music. And it just - I grew up around music. When I started playing the sax - my brother Doyle played the trombone. My brother Richie played the trumpet. And we would bring our horns to Granddaddy's house for Easter, or for Christmas, or for Thanksgiving. And we'd begin to play those horns in the living room. I'd start playing my sax, and my Aunt Sue played the organ. And she would be over there playing, and Michael would be playing, and we'd get to singing.
I'm telling you, my brother Richie and I, I really believe our ministry started, we started evangelizing after that sometime. But it really started, I think, in my granddaddy's living room. Because there were times where we didn't plan it, but we'd just start singing. Because Granddaddy would not let any family gathering take place - Granddaddy and Thelma, my grandmother. They wouldn't let it take place without - you're not leaving, children and grandchildren, until we have church in my house. You gonna eat my food? You gonna run around here, and ride these horses, and ride these four-wheelers, and all this blessing? You gonna remember who gave it to me, and we're gonna have some worship in this house. And we'd play football. We had football out in the front yard like you wouldn't believe. But he wouldn't let us play football until the service was over. And we'd go in that living room.
I can remember me and my brother would start singing some hymns sometimes. "He'd touched me, Oh, He touched". The power of the Holy Ghost would fall on that living room. I'd look over, and my uncle would be weeping. My Uncle Ted, my Uncle Tony, my Uncle Jack - they would be weeping. I would see aunts, and my mother, and my father. My dad would get up and preach. And they had so many preachers in the family that it would become a preach-a-thon, and one after another would get up. I just gotta say one word. But before it was over, they were prophesying. The power of God was moving, and the children were captivated by the presence of God. Not in a sanctuary, but in the home. In the family. In the living room.
Would you get on your knees? Would you just join me if you can physically? Would you just get on your knees right there in your living room? In your bedroom. In your kitchen. Would you just get down if you physically can? And just throw you hands up and say Lord, "I would love for you to pour out your spirit on my house. I want my family saved. I want my children saved. I want us filled with the Holy Ghost. I wanna worship you in this house you gave me. I give you my house. I give you my family. I give you my marriage. I give you my children. I invite your holy presence into this room now, right where I am". Just say that. I dare you to open your mouth and say, "I invite you now into my home. Show us what it's all about". It's not about what the world makes it into. It's about how much Jesus do you have in your life.
And there are backsliders that are listening to me right now. And you get can't let this crisis just come and go because this is your wake-up call. This is your moment right there in that room to say Jesus, wash me. Say it. Jesus, cleanse me. Jesus, forgive me. Jesus, I'm coming back to you in my home. I want every parent to lay your hands on your children and your grandchildren, and I want you to speak the blessing of the Lord. over them. I want you to plead the blood of Jesus over them. I want you to ask God to fill 'em with the Holy Ghost, right there in your living room. Because when my parents, and my uncles, and my aunts started worshipping God, it was a holy noise in that house that I can never get away from. I can never erase from the - it's forever embedded in my spirit. And it happened not in a church service, but in a house service.
Our time is almost gone, but I want you to just take a few moments in your home. Maybe have some singing. Maybe have some worship. Maybe have some time where you just reach around, and lay hands on one another, and pray for one another, and hold one another, and love one another. Because when it's all said and done, all that's gonna matter is Jesus and your family. So worship Him right there in your home. And we're gonna go out worshipping God. Gonna go out just lifting Jesus high today. Let's glorify Him. And now may the Lord bless you and keep you. Make His face shine on you. Be gracious unto you. Lift up His countenance upon you. Give you peace, and protection, and blessing, and health. Provision and the anointing on your house.