Transcription
The following program is sponsored by friends and partners of Kingdom Connection. We've never seen before, and I'm standing today in our auditorium in Gainesville, Georgia. It's just a bunch of empty seats, and like thousands and thousands of places of worship, synagogues, and churches, and all kinds of places where people are worshiping, they're not there. The people are not there. All that's here are empty seats because the building and the seats are not the church; the people are the church. In the Old Testament, God had a temple for his people, but in the New Testament, God has a people for his temple, and he said, "I'll live in you, and your body will be my temple." And today, there's no need for panic, but we must make a choice. You have to choose faith over fear.
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Praise the mighty name of Jesus! I feel the presence of God, and that's what heals, and that's what helps, and that's what lives, and that's what encourages. And I want to talk to you for a few moments today from the book of Mark chapter 5. It's an amazing story there that I speak that I think speaks to the times that we're in. I want to get a little phrase in your spirit and in your heart so that when you feel worried, when you feel fear, when you feel panicked, when you feel the anxiety of the times, that this would rise up in your spirit. What I'm going to teach you would rise up in your mind and your attitude in your heart as a defense against the attack of fear.
In Mark chapter 5, there was a girl who had died. It was a tragedy. She was 12 years of age, and Jesus walked into that house where death had come. We don't know what killed her, but it was some disease, and it had taken her life. And then Jesus says something so strange. And I like the King James Version of this particular verse. It says in verse 38, "When he came into the house, they were weeping and they were wailing loudly, crying and understandably so. And when he came in, he said to them, 'Why do you make this ado?'" And we, that's a strange terminology. "Why do you make this big ado about this situation?"
What Jesus was really saying was what Shakespeare got ahold of. He heard that verse where Jesus said, one translation says, "Why are you making much ado about nothing?" And Shakespeare took that phrase and he wrote a whole play, and it became one of his famous plays, and of course, it was called "Much Ado About Nothing." He took it from that verse where Jesus said, "Why are you making so much ado about this situation?"
Now, let me underscore something very important. What Jesus was saying was he was not underplaying the danger. He was not underplaying the tragedy. He was not playing down as though he was unaffected by the sorrow and the weeping and the tragedy that the people were going through in that house. But what he was saying was, even in the darkest moments, even in the darkest days, choose faith over fear. What he was saying was, "I am here. I'm in your house." And he said, "Don't make much ado about nothing."
Certainly, I'm not preaching that the plague is nothing, that the coronavirus is nothing. It's deadly, it's dangerous. God gave us common sense to deal with it in every way that we can. But when you compare it to the God who is on your side, when you compare it, because Jesus was standing in the same house where the plague had come, and when you compare it to our God, it's much ado about nothing because he doesn't fail, and he is with us, and he is for us.
We believe today that the spirit of fear is loose in our nation and around the world, and he wants to do everything that he can to get us to worry, to feel anxious, to feel stressed out, to feel as though everything's over and we're coming to an end. We're not coming to an end. God's not through blessing this nation. It's not too late for America. It's not too late for you. It's not too late for your marriage, for your home, or your family. You've got to learn to take the Word of God, and when you feel the fear and the worry and the anxiety and the stress, that word comes up in you like a defense.
When I read it this week, it's like the Lord just seemed to whisper to me, not in an audible voice, but just in my mind, in my heart. I kept hearing those words, "Don't make much ado about nothing. Don't let worry make you go into just panic." Jesus said, "I am with you in your home. I am where you are. I know your address. I know all about you. I have not forgotten about you. I am with you." No matter what comes our way, our first reaction should be faith that overcomes the fear. Choose faith over fear. Choose faith over panic and over being petrified and crying. It's much ado about nothing when you stack it up and compare it to the healing, miraculous, powerful God that we serve.
Well, what about this virus? We will survive. We're more than conquerors through Christ. No weapon formed against us will prosper. And then he said that nothing can separate us from the love of God. We're being dominated right now in our culture, in our culture, by fear. We need to go from fear-based living to faith-based living. Listen to me carefully. Over the last few decades, the life expectancy has more than doubled. The capacity of life expectancy over the last few decades has increased tremendously. Let's not make much ado about nothing as though that everybody is going to die. We're actually living longer and healthier than any time in human history. Choose faith over fear. We have more health than any other generation. We have more long life than any other generation. We have more cures, more medicine, more technology, more science than we've ever had. And yet, many people are living in fear. Even we're living twice as long and more healthy than we ever have in human history, in our lifetime, and in our generations. And yet, the generation that is more healthier than ever is more worried and more fearful. I'm not saying we shouldn't be afraid, but I should—I'm saying that we shouldn't make much ado about nothing when we remember that our times are in God's hands, that the power of life and death, he holds the keys. The devil is so defeated. Death is so defeated. It doesn't even have the keys to its own house because Jesus said, "I have the keys." It's amazing that we're living longer and healthier than we've ever lived before. You see, every time you turn the TV on, you're going to have to choose faith over fear. And I want that word to come up in your spirit: "Much ado about nothing." God is with me. God is for me. God is in me. God is blessing my family, keeping my family. He can be trusted. I can trust him. Choose faith over fear. Don't let the fear flu get you. You know, the 10 spies in the Book of Numbers, they call it the fear flu. And only two of them said, "We're well able to take it." Ten of them said, "Oh no, the giants are great, the problems are great, everything's going to overtake us." But two of them who didn't catch the fear flu came back and they said, "We're well able." You know what happened to them? They got vaccinated with faith. That's what needs to happen to America today. You need to get vaccinated with faith. That gives you the power to choose faith over fear. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, faith in the name above every name, faith in the power of the cross and the blood of the Lamb, faith that the blood of the Lamb on your household, on your doorpost, spiritually, on your heart and your family, can cause death to pass over, and that God can heal by His stripes the diseases and the afflictions of man.
People who study genes and genetics, scientists, they have identified a certain gene recently. It's called gene SLG684, and you know what they labeled it? It's called the worry gene. It's a medical fact now. What you—listen to me carefully—and the people who have the short version of the gene SLG684 are pre-positioned, they say, and more prone to worry than people who have the long version of this particular gene. And what I read that, I felt to myself, "Oh God, do I have the short version or the..." You know, you're just reading that, and I just immediately went to worry. And I remembered this text: "Much ado about nothing." "I am with you. I'll never forsake you. I'll never leave you. I'll never abandon you."
I'm telling you today that God does not want us to live in chronic fear. Fear is usually the result of increased vulnerability, and that's what we're feeling in our nation and around the world. We feel vulnerable. We don't have any way to protect ourselves, but we have the protection of Psalms 91. And if you don't even read the Bible, by the way, I was notified today that many of the rabbis and synagogues are reading the protection Psalms out of the Book of Psalms over their people, and they're asking them to take those Psalms. They believe that there is supernatural power in Psalms like Psalms 91, that when you speak those words, that he'll give his angels charge over you, that he'll protect you, that he will keep you, and you abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Read Psalms 91 when you're afraid. Choose faith over fear. Read the Word of God. If you'll read the Bible, the Bible will read you, and it'll detect that fear, and then it will feed your faith.
Isaiah 43 and two needs to be spoken over our nation today: "When you pass the water, I will be with you. When you go through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, it will not burn you, neither shall the flame be kindled against you." And then he goes on to say later, "You are precious in my sight, and I love you, and I will give people for your life." And the person that he gave for my life was Jesus Christ. He carried my sorrow, he carried my sickness, he carried my death in his body on the cross.
And he did—you don't allow faith to cause you to go into denial. When people become dominated by fear, they begin to move into denial. And this is so important because they don't want to deal with the issue. So if, during this crisis that we're facing, something comes up, if you begin to get the symptoms, don't go into denial. Faith is not denial. Faith is not pretending like you know that you have faith so great that you don't have any issues. Everybody has problems. Everybody gets sick. Everybody goes through issues. Here's what I tell people: Everything is better with Jesus in it, including trouble. So fear wants to cause us to go into denial, to not deal with the issues. Listen to this: Face the problem, but focus on God. Choose faith over fear. That's why a lot of folks don't get checkups. They don't go to doctors. They haven't had a physical in so long because they're afraid. They're dominated with fear. And the truth is, this is no time to be dominated with fear. And this is a time when we don't need to be living in denial.
Secondly, fear causes us to become people of procrastination. You see, fear makes you begin to procrastinate. And you should confront something, you should confront someone, but because of fear, you just—you just put it off, and you put it off, and you put it off, and you put it off. And lastly, fear causes us to enter into a place of indecision. Somebody said, "When you're caught between a yes, sir, and a no, sir, you got to make a big decision. You don't know if you should go with yes, sir, or no, sir." You get an ulcer. And a lot of people are in the valley of decision. God told Elijah, he said, "Tell the people, why do you halt between two opinions? Why are you not making a decision?" Because fear causes us to move into into a place of indecision.
When God tells us to not fear, he's saying you don't—he's not saying you don't have to ever have the emotion of fear. What he's saying is, trust me, even though you are afraid, trust me and choose faith over fear. Compared to our God who is on our side, listen, let it get in your spirit: It's much ado about nothing. Get faith first, not fear first. Face it and fight it. God said, "And I'll be with you." That's what we're doing as a nation. That's why we're not a symbol today. We're facing the fact that we're dealing with the problem. We're facing the problem, but we're focusing on God. The president has called the nation to prayer and to praise. And the most often given commandment is, "Fear not, for I am with you."
And I want to conclude as they're coming back to the music. That God delights, listen, in courageous people, and people who are strong and courageous, who, when they face challenges, they don't buckle, and they don't fear, and they don't fall. Many are afraid now of the fear of failure of their business and their finances. I believe this fear is very real to many of you. You know, in our ministry here, across all of our campuses, we have decided to this next week to ask our employees to just all of them that can, and of course, if they have any symptoms of sickness, not to come to work. But beyond that, any corporations, and many people are doing this across the nation, and we decided to do it just to stay home because children are out of school and so on. And so we want families together. And we said, "Just do work from your computer, do work at home." But the fear of failure of business, in the stock market, and finances, in the economy, can cause people to tremble in fear. And oh no, but Jesus said, "I'll take care of you." It's much ado about nothing. If I feed the sparrows, I'm gonna feed you. If I take care of all of nature, I'm gonna take care of you.
But what if this happens? What if that happens? When you're down to nothing, God's up to something. God's up to something in America. You would have stayed right where you were, but maybe this, this divine shutdown, is what God is wanting to do. It's what he did with Jehoshaphat in the Old Testament. They reached a problem where they were outnumbered, out-resourced, and out of options. And he lifted up his eyes to heaven and said, "God, we don't know what to do." Second Chronicles 20: "We don't know what to do, but our eyes are upon you." And God is saying, "I brought America to a divine shutdown so that you will look up and say, 'God, our eyes are upon you.'" This is the moment of divine destiny. And don't you know that our God is bigger than the shutdown? Our God is bigger than the coronavirus. Our God is bigger than the financial needs and the stock market issues. And all of the things, we will see restoration and a resurrection in America, but it must begin on our knees. It must begin with my people, which are called by my name, humbling themselves and calling on God and praying.
And I'm going to pray for you in conclusion today, but I want you to get it into your spirit that when you watch the news, when you see this and you see that, not that we don't take these times serious and these issues and heed all of the health warnings that we're hearing constantly, absolutely. But I pray that this little word will get in your spirit: "Much ado about nothing." You know, there's been so many times in this ministry where I worried. I worried about this, I worried about that, I worried. And I'd have the Lord come along and give me this little phrase: "Much ado about nothing." Trust me. Trust me. God is teaching us in the middle of this shutdown, in the middle of this crisis, to depend on him. Faith is dependency on God. It's time right there in your home, right where you are, in that office, wherever you are, I want to ask you to receive the peace, the forgiveness, the healing, the comfort. Replace panic with praise. Replace worry with worship. There are some problems that are so severe, if you don't attack them with worship, they'll attack you with worry.
Pray with me right where you are. Everybody repeat these words behind me. Just me and the worship team, but just say: "Lord Jesus, I give you my life, my family, my future. I believe what you did on the cross was your love manifested for me. Receive salvation, forgiveness, cleansing, and protection by the blood of Jesus Christ. I am forgiven, and I choose faith over fear in the mighty name of Jesus." Oh, praise God!
We would love to hear from you. Go online, dial the number on the screen if they've got one. We would love to hear from you. We want to help you in your new walk with God. In our closing moments, I want to share with you one of the unprecedented opportunities that God has opened up for this ministry. Over the last several years, the work that we're doing in Israel is absolutely critical. The Eshkol region borders the Gaza Strip and it's plagued by near-constant rockets and chaos. And here we're building the Eshkol Region Trauma Center. We've broken ground on it, and it's under construction as I speak. I believe that we are fulfilling the biblical prophecy of Isaiah that he spoke about in the fortieth chapter when he said, "Comfort me, comfort me, my people." I'm only going to ask you to seek the Lord and see what he would have you do with your help. We will finish this in just a few months and have a grand dedication there in the Holy Land, and you'll have a memorial for your family in the Holy Land that says, "To God, I have loved the nation of Israel." I believe God will pour out blessings on you like you've never seen before. Please do your very best. We need your help on this project. Here's my announcer to tell you how you can be a part.
From the imaginary shapes the clouds form to the mysterious blue hue, for most children, the sky is a place of wonder and beauty. But there's a place where that is not the case. In Nashville, Israel, the sky is a place of terror and trauma for children that live in this war-torn territory. Terrorist rockets, kites, and helium-filled and incendiary balloons fill the sky with fear. But thanks to your support, we are more than halfway to our $1 million commitment to build the Ashkelon Region Playschool Kingdom. Here, children will be able to play in a safe environment without fear of attack. They will also be able to receive counseling services to assist them in coping with ongoing trauma caused by these terrorist attacks from the Gaza Strip. As a thank you for your support in our initiative to comfort God's people, we would like to send you the Holy Week collection for your gift of $100 or more this month. You'll have your name inscribed on the "Comfort My People" wall of recognition in Israel. For your gift of $300 or more this month, you may request the Holy Week gift set with a beautifully crafted communion set. With your gift of $50 or more, we will send you the Holy Week bundle, including Jensen Franklin's just-released book, "Acres of Diamonds." And with your gift of any amount, we'll send you a copy of the devotion, "8 Days to Change the World." Your gift and prayers are making a difference and bringing comfort to God's people in Israel. Visit us online today.
Well, Charisse and I are so excited about the 2020 trip to Israel, the Holy Land Tour. This is going to be the most special trip that we've ever had. When you go on trips like this, it's a form of blessing Israel. It's a form of saying, "I'm blessing you, God, and I'm blessing your land, and I'm blessing the people." And when you do that, there's a blessing that comes back spiritually and in every other way. Can't wait to see you. Get on the bus. Let's go!
This program has been sponsored by friends and partners of Kingdom Connection. We hope you've enjoyed this teaching by Jensen Franklin, and thank you for your continued support of this ministry. Your prayers and financial support make these programs possible. For more information about this message and other ministry resources, visit us online at JensenFranklin.TV.