No Explanations, Just An Invitation I Jentezen Franklin

0:00 Hello, this is Jensen Franklin, and thank you so much for joining us for this week's podcast. Our goal is to provide you with biblically-based teachings that will challenge, inspire, and equip you to live for Jesus. If you haven't already, I'd love for you to go ahead and subscribe today to this podcast so you can get the latest updates from us and you don't ever have to miss a new message. Let's go right into the service. Recorded at Free Chapel, I believe it's going to bless you today.

0:32 My beautiful granddaughter's on the front row, so I must preach good today. Must preach good today. It means so much to me. My firstborn grandchild. Hallelujah. If you have your Bibles, turn with me to the book of John chapter 21. New Testament, John chapter 21. I'm preaching today on no explanations, just an invitation. Sometimes God will not give you an explanation. And with all that's been happening, I had a brand new message that I had in my Bible, and I've been carrying it as I normally do two or three weeks. I try to stay ahead.

1:24 I try to have three or four in the chamber. Amen. And I'm like the wind, wherever God wants me to go. But my heart began to remember this little message. And it's for some people listening to me today that are going through similar things like I've described. you may be in the trial of your life right now. Your family may be going through something that is almost indescribable. Your health may be failing you, and you're so worried. Your finances may be in a crisis, and it has your stomach in knots, and you don't know what to do, where to turn. You may have a son, a daughter on drugs, alcohol destroying their life.

2:19 You don't know what to do. Look at this story. This is post-resurrection. This is after the resurrection of Jesus Christ. He appeared seven times after he was crucified on seven different occasions over a span of 40 days to over 600 people in all. He showed himself alive with infallible proof. And this is one of the seven times that Jesus appears.

2:52 He cooked a breakfast for his disciples who had gone back to fishing. And verse 18 says, most assuredly, I say unto you. Now, if I had time, I would back up and tell you that he questions Simon Peter. and he says, do you love me, do you love me, do you love me? Three times and three times he says, I love you, Lord. Then he says in verse 16, if you love me, feed my sheep.

3:25 And then in verse 18, most assuredly I say to you, speaking to Simon Peter, this is Jesus' words, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you, will tie you up, and will carry you where you do not wish. Then this he spoke, signifying by what death he, Simon Peter, would glorify God. He's prophesying to him about his death. Watch this. And when he had spoken this, he said to him, everybody say these words big and bold, follow me.

4:23 Then Peter, turning, saw the disciple whom Jesus loved, following, who also had leaned on his breast at the supper and said, Lord, who is the one who betrays you? And Peter, seeing him, seeing who? Seeing John, said to Jesus, But Lord, what about him?

4:53 Jesus said to him, If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow me. When Jesus gives no explanation, just an invitation, follow me. It's after the resurrection, Jesus is meeting with three of his disciples on this appearance, as he often did with these three, Peter, James, and John.

5:28 And John being the disciple whom Jesus loved, I don't understand, I don't know, Well, you can say what you want to say. The scripture is very clear. He often pulled these three aside from the other disciples. He often shared things and insights and teachings with them that he did not share with the others. And he asked Simon, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me? He said, yes, I do. Then he said, then feed my sheep. Do what I put you on this earth to do. Take the word and feed the sheep. And he said, but when you grow old, they're going to tie your hands and they're going to lead you where you don't want to go down a path that you would never choose to go down. He would literally be crucified upside down. He would request to be crucified upside down.

6:21 Because he said, I'm not worthy to be crucified like my Savior. And Jesus said, when they lead you that way, you follow me. And in this young version of himself, he said, there's coming a day you're young now, but you'll be old when this happens.

6:43 And Peter said, when he saw standing in the same place, the disciple whom Jesus loved, he was kind of had a little, you can hear a little kickback on this as he's saying, this is unfair. You're not treating me like you treat your favorite right there, the one whom you love. What about him? Why do I have to suffer? Why do I have to go through this? Why do I have to die like that? What about him? And one of the sternest rebukes that you'll ever read in the Scripture, Jesus whirled around, and he said, what is it to you how I deal with him? I have a plan for your life, and I have a plan for his life. And here's the key. He said, when you go down this path of following me, you will glorify me. Did you catch that? When you die, you will glorify me. It's not about you. Your life is not your own anymore.

7:54 Lord, you surrendered to me. Now follow me. And if in that following I lead you in a path that is not what you thought you would go, you just know that when you're doing that, did you read it in that verse that I read? He said, you will die a death that will glorify me. Why didn't that disciple get the same direction that I got, was what Simon Peter was asking. anytime you get your eyes off of Jesus and you get your eyes on other people and what you're going through compared to what they're going through, you are missing the plan of God for your life. Equality cannot be transferred in the kingdom of God.

8:54 You cannot say, well, God, if you love me and you love them, then you will bless us all the same. God says, I don't do that. I have a plan for them. I have a plan for you. All that live godly in Christ will suffer. They'll go through things. They'll go through trials. It rains on the just and the unjust and nothing's gonna change that. In this life, you will have tribulation.

9:22 And just because their life looks perfect right now and yours doesn't, he says, don't you say, well, what about them? And why am I going through all of this? And I don't deserve it. And look at them and everything is blessed and in order and perfect in their life. He has a plan for you.

9:44 And it may not be as glorious as what it looks like he's doing in somebody else's life right now. And I just want to throw this in. And sometimes when you're going through stuff and you look at people and their life looks picture perfect, you don't know what's behind the curtain. You don't know what they're going through that is unspeakable. You don't know that their life could not somehow be 10 times worse than anything you're facing yourself. And that's why Jesus said that is none of your business how that person's life is going. I want you to know that where you are right now, I am with you and I want you to follow me. And wherever I lead you, if it's into the valley, if it's into tears, if it's into trial, if it's into suffering, I want you to trust me and follow me and quit doing this thing of what about him?

10:44 What is that to you? Follow me. Paul said in 2 Corinthians 10, you compare yourselves one to another, and in so doing, you are not wise. You are not supposed to get this thing and get bitter at God because he's treating you different, and it seems like he treats other people, and everything they do is so beautiful and so successful and so wonderful, and everything goes wrong for you. why do they have a dad and I didn't have a dad why did this happen to me and it didn't happen to them why couldn't I see that like they see that and Jesus gives one of his most stern rebukes when he says what is that to you don't you understand that I have a plan for your life that will bring glory to my name it will bring glory Okay.

11:44 You're called to feed the sheep. And what is that to you? Follow me. where we are is his will for our lives right now. And if you're going through cancer treatment, I'm not saying that God put the cancer on you. We live in a fallen world. This world is not our home. My point to you is this. If God has allowed you and all of us will suffer, All of us will go through sickness. All of us will go through things. Does that mean miracles are not real? Does that mean healing is not real? No, it does not mean that. It means miracles are real. Healing is real.

12:35 But at some point, we all go through challenges. And there's nothing evil about it. There's nothing wrong about it. And there's nothing that means God has forsaken us when we go through it. Where you are right now is the will of God for your life. If you're following him the best that you can, if you're following him and saying, Lord, I really am serious about loving you and doing your will, then right where you are right now is God's will because he's going to get glory out of your infirmities, out of your suffering, out of your heartbreak, out of your pain, out of your tears. even in trials and tribulations even when life is not fair why aren't they going through it take your eyes off of them and get them back on him You can't see behind the curtain of anybody else.

13:39 They've got their own situations. Man looks on the outward appearance. God sees our heart. what is that to you? You don't know what I'm doing in them, and you don't know what I'm doing in you. If I do all the right things, if I go to church, if I read my Bible, if I fast, if I pray, if I love you and I worship you, Why is this happening to me? You have to understand that the most godliest people in this book dealt with the greatest tragedies and problems that you could ever imagine. It is impossible to become the person that God wants you to become that brings glory to his name and bypass severe trials severe valleys and situations that try you to the ultimate to where you say, though he slay me, yet will I trust him.

15:03 If I lose everything, I'll still hold to God's unchanging hand. And the greatest level of faith is not a miracle. is to say, I trust you, God, when I don't understand anything you're doing. Why am I going through this? I'll tell you one of the greatest verses that you can memorize is Deuteronomy chapter 29 and verse 29. Listen to this. The secret things belong to the Lord. There are some things that God will never show you. No explanation, just an invitation. Follow me. But God, why? Show me the secret behind this. Show me the purpose why the car wreck killed my family member. Show me the reason why you allowed this to happen.

15:58 Show me this. Show me that. All of that, Job asked 181 questions. Why, why, why, why, why? And God never gave him an explanation. He said, follow me. I know what I'm doing. And his story brings comfort to all of us.

16:18 God was glorified. when you understand that and you understand that we do this comparing thing. Look at that family and look at my family.

16:38 Well, maybe your family's got so much destiny attached to them that demons give special attention because there's faith in your seed for generations that can cast out devils. Oh, come on. I believe that sometimes the enemy does everything he can to destroy your family because he senses that if he doesn't, God's going to use them. And so that's when you just make up your mind. I can't get my eyes on them. I'm going to keep my eyes on him. I know what he promised me. I know what he showed me. And I will live to see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living. I wrote this sermon, Lord, I guess 20 years ago. And I was a young preacher then.

17:34 And I was frustrated. I remember the weekend, and when I read this part of my notes, it was funny. My notes are a mess, but they really speak to me. I remember moments in the voice of the Lord, not in an audible way, but just, I don't know how to describe it. Just when the enlightenment comes, it's there. and I wrote down these words, how can I be the pastor? I wrote up under it, can you help me here? I wrote this, did you call the wrong one? I was having a bad day. It was one of those Saturdays. God was not speaking. I was terrified. I didn't know what I was doing. Stuff was going on in the church.

18:29 and I just whip myself, beat myself up, and say how unqualified I wish I could be like him, and I wish I could be like them, and look how you're blessing them. We're fighting demons and devils and struggles. and I tell you the Lord came in that office and he told me to write these words down and I did I chose you because you are you I didn't choose that one, that one, that one for the particular way that I would lead you. And since you're following me and I led you this way, I chose you because you're you.

19:21 I chose you to go through what you're going through. You're following me through it. You're not in it alone. I work in the dark just as easy. You know, he didn't create the sun until the fourth day. God works in the darkness just as easily as he does the daylight. He doesn't, you say, I can't see, it's so dark, I can't see. Just take him by the hand. He can work the night shift and he's moving. And if he steps into the darkness and you're following him, the darkness is God's will for your life right now. So praise him anyhow and say, Lord, I will hold to your unchanging hand.

20:03 Hallelujah. I chose you because you are you. Now watch this. Oh, but if you got faith and you really love the Lord, you're going to live that blessed life all the time. Well, it's true. I do live the blessed life. Even when I don't look like it, I'm blessed. But watch this, the Heroes of Faith chapter. Throw it up for me. Hebrews chapter 11. By faith the walls of Jericho fell. By faith the harlot perished not with them that believed not. She received the spies and she got a miracle for her family. By faith Samson and Jephthah did amazing things. who through faith subdued kingdoms and obtained promises. And they stopped the mouths of lions, yes, and quenched a fire and defeated, ran the devil out of their land.

21:05 And look at it. It's just victory after victory. Keep going. Same chapter, same chapter. These women saw their dead race to life again and all kinds of, and that they might obtain a better resurrection. And others. Everybody say, and others. Oh, same chapter, same group of believers. Some are having a winning season.

21:33 And others had trials of cruel mockings and scourgings. Where was God? Well, Lord, why are they being so blessed and victorious? And others. Bonds and imprisonment. They were stoned. They were sewn asunder, cut in two, tempted, tortured, slain with swords, wondered like destitute, homeless, afflicted, tormented, of whom the world was not worthy. They died prematurely. Anytime somebody dies prematurely in the will of God, it's God's statement of saying the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in the deserts, pitiful, having obtained a good report through faith, not received the promise.

22:31 Finish it. But God having provided some better things for us that they without us should not be made perfect. It takes both seasons in your life is what that is saying. And one didn't have more faith than the other. They all had faith. And some of them had faith to follow him through the suffering, through the loss, through the heartache, through the tears, through the valley. And others had faith in that season for God to be glorified. And those stories that they were in to build our faith generations later, he let them win victories. But in all cases, the deal is right there. You just keep following him. And you don't look over at other people and say, but what about them? I want to remind you of something. I want to remind you of how the Bible said in the book of Acts chapter 12, Simon Peter and James were in the same prison.

23:41 and James is taken from the prison cell that Simon Peter is in and walked out to the execution block and beheaded. That was what happened to him. And Simon Peter is to be executed in the morning when the sun comes up, But that night, God sent an angel to the same cell that one man had gone to his death, but it glorified God. He had served his purpose, and God said, I'll be glorified. And here's a man in the same cell, less than 24 hours later, God sends an angel, opens the door, chains fall off. He walks out, goes to Rhoda's house, knocks on the door.

24:36 They're having a prayer meeting for him, and he says, I'm free. And everybody's shouting and screaming except James' family. What are his kids doing? Why didn't God save our daddy? Why didn't God do a miracle for us? He did it for him. They were in the same condition. He got it. He got his miracle. We got death and devastation. Where's God? You can't play that game You can't do that Faith says I'll follow you If it's to death Or if it's to a miracle My faith is the same I will follow you Elijah. Elijah never died.

25:31 A fiery chariot came down and picked Elijah up and took him to heaven. Elisha, his protege, who had a double portion. Are y'all with me? Who had a double portion, the Bible said, was sick unto death. 2 Kings 13 in his deathbed.

25:57 And he would sick under death from the death that he would die, from the sickness that he would die. He was sick and performed miracles like raising the dead for others and multiplying bread and making an axe head swim. But he died in a bed of sickness. Follow me. Get your eyes off, Elijah. I'm not going to do what I did for him. I have a plan for him. I have a plan for you. Because I'm doing a type here. The dead in Christ shall be raised first, and those who alive and remain. I'm showing the church my beautiful pictures and types. Moses, you're going to go on that mountain, and you're going to look across and say, I wish I could go to the promised land, but I can't let them think that the law and works can get you in, and you represent law, so you just stay here, and I'm going to bury your bones in this mountain.

26:54 But don't think that I'm finished with you because when it's all at the end, I level everything out for everybody. And by the way, I'm going to raise you up and I'm going to put you and let you float down on a cloud, the Mount of Transfiguration, and put your feet in the promised land and talk to the Messiah and tell him, oh, hallelujah, and tell him the plan to save the world. And Paul's going around healing people, healing cripples, raising a dead man who fell three stories out of a church when he fell asleep at midnight and broke his neck and he raised him up from the dead. But Paul, the Bible said, I have this infirmity in the flesh. I have a thorn, the literal word is stake or spike. Oh, and he's healing people and cripples are being, and he's got this thing going on in his side that is so painful that he's begging God to remove it.

27:50 And three times, God said, I'm not gonna remove it. My grace is sufficient for you, follow me. If you follow me suffering, follow me suffering. If you follow me going through chemo, follow me. If you follow me when something tragic happens to your family, that's when people need to know that what we have doesn't just work when the sun is shining. It works when all hell is breaking loose. and even at the grave it works. It gives hope, it gives life, it gives peace. So, the secret things belong to the Lord. Sometimes an... An unseen loving purpose. is taking place that we're not aware of.

28:52 God may hurt you, but he will never harm you. All right, let me put it to you like this. When Courtney was a child, I used to whip her, but I never whipped her to hurt her. I whipped her to help her. Whom the Lord loves, he chastens. The Lord will hurt you, but he won't harm you. I never was trying to harm her by whipping her. I hated it. I hated it. I hated it. Sharice would make me do it. and they had much rather me with them than charise i guarantee you that's a fact sometimes i'd get them in the back room and say scream scream But how many of you parents, you really, you really whip your children to hurt them?

29:58 No, you didn't. You don't whip your baby that you love to hurt them. Maybe a few times. Amen. Do you believe that you're a better parent than he is? I read this story. I close with it.

30:27 It's a true story. A man went to a garage sale, and he saw an old in the backyard. They had a lot of stuff, and weeds had grown up over an old shell of a motorcycle. It was rusty. It was rust-eaten. The wheels were basically gone from it. It just rims.

30:51 And he walked over and he looked at it and he recognized the make of the motorcycle. He thought, well, you know, I love to fix things and it's got the shell of what I could use. So he offered him $300 for it and he bought it for $300. The guy let him have it gladly. He took it and he got to working on it and it was rust everywhere, especially on the gas tank. and he looked up under it and he did get to a place where he could read some kind of little inscription and he could see the serial number.

31:29 And so he called an expert in this kind of motorcycle. It's an old bike. And he said, I want you to tell me where this bike came from. If you've got any information, I've got the serial numbers and this man did this kind of thing. He searched the serial number and he said, by the way, there's a little phrase called the king that someone inscripted on right above the serial number, the king.

32:03 And the man said, I'll call you back. And he called him back. He said, I want to tell you this and I want you to know that I'm not going to offer you more. but I'll give you $100,000 for that motorcycle and the condition that it's in if you'll just give it to me. And he said, no, I'm not going to do that, but why are you doing that?

32:27 He said, well, that motorcycle was stolen and it belonged to Elvis Presley, the king. He said, well, then I'm definitely not going to sell it to you for $100,000. Listen to this. Within 24 hours, he got a phone call from Jay Leno, the Tonight Show host, who loves bikes and cars. He said, I have been searching for that motorcycle for so long, you have no idea the research I've done. I will offer you today $500,000 for that rusty old motorcycle. And he said, Lord, I receive.

33:23 He didn't say that, but that's what I would have said. The value of that bike was in who it belonged to. you belong to the king.

33:48 I don't care what you're going through. I don't care what you're facing. I don't care how dark it is. What's it to you if other people are having a good season right now? If you're in the thick of darkness, follow me, Jesus says. I'm not going to give you explanations. the secret things belong to the Lord but I'll give you an invitation follow me and I'll get glory isn't that the greatest purpose for our life to glorify God to say at the end of my life not that I had the longest life I don't want the longest life I want to live as long as I can glorify God And when I can't glorify God, I'm ready to go.

34:43 That's what I exist for, is to glorify God. You belong to the king. you are exactly who you are, and that's exactly who God wants you to be. Going through what you're going through. Get your eyes off of them and get them on Him. And if He says, follow me, we're going to step into this darkness. And you're not going to hear my voice, and it's going to get real loud and real crazy, but just hold my hand. I won't let you go. I'll never leave you. I'll never forsake you. and I'll be glorified. I'll be glorified.

35:38 I thought about Jonathan. During the production, he was up here singing those beautiful songs that he wrote, one of them, and his sister, they rolled her in, Jojo, who was having her sixth child and had major complications, and they didn't think she would live, but she is crippled up in a wheelchair, her arms folded, her legs feeble, and she can't speak. She can't.

36:14 And I watched this dad back there after the production. I had made an arrangement right over here to make it easy for her to meet over there with some anointing oil and Jonathan and some of the family. And we anointed Jojo with oil. And I watched your father, your father. I watched him, and the thought hit me. He's smiling. He has faith still after you don't understand the months and months and months and the care that, you know, it's one thing to hear a story. Then there's the daily care. There's the unending, the unending process of just like us up in the mountains for the last seven days, all day, all night, driving, searching, looking, doing everything, drones, amazing people here and doing things for, to reach out and try to find this man.

37:19 it's the daily grind of a child on drugs the daily grind of someone cheating on you the daily grind of some kind of pain that is cancer and the fear of it that just is the dread of it it's just hanging over you but Jesus says to you you're my property follow me and I'll keep getting glory when you smile. I'll keep getting glory when people see you walking through it. And one of these days, I promise you, I'll make it everything. Our first step, the Bible said we'll call these things light afflictions. Are not to be compared. These light afflictions, Paul said, are not to be compared to the glory. eyes have not seen, ears have not heard where we're going.

38:17 No more tears, no more sorrow, no more pain, no more suicide, no more death, no more families broken, no more. So, if you're here and you're listening to me at any of our campuses and you are feeling the heaviness of life right now, you're walking in the darkness, you're not alone. You belong to the King. His name is Jesus. I really want to say thank you for joining us this week. If you haven't already, make sure you click on the subscription button and leave us a review. It helps this podcast reach even more people when you comment, when you give us your feedback. For more messages and inspirational materials, download the Jensen Franklin app. Or you can head over to jensenfranklin.org.

39:17 I want to thank all of you who give generously to help us produce weekly content like this to reach the world with the message of Jesus. God bless you and we'll see you next time.