The Priority Of Peace 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. Record it at Free Chapel. I believe it's going to bless you today.

0:32 I do believe the Lord wants to speak to us today about something that I could not shake. First, I want you to look with me in the book of Solomon, Song of Solomon, chapter 3. Let's begin reading with verse 7. And behold, it is Solomon's bed with 60 valet men around it of the valet of Israel. They all hold swords, being expert in war. Every man has his sword on his thigh. Sixty valet men with swords wide, being expert in war. For every man has his sword on his thigh because of fear in the night. The conference started off with the speaker speaking.

1:31 What was her? Sadie. Sadie. She was amazing. Sadie, the Duck Dynasty girl. And she was amazing. And she preached a sermon that she had never preached on the spirit of fear. And I just thought it was amazing. And I want to continue on that vein for just a moment. But I want to talk to you about the priority of peace and why it really matters for a few moments. How to defeat fear. In the Bible, there's a word that you read that has to do with currency and money, and it is a word called talent. They used talents to measure the money and the weight of money. And a talent was considered 75, a talent of gold was 75 pounds. At $1,500 an ounce, around what it is now, up and down, but at $1,500 an ounce, that would be $1.6 million.

2:39 This text is talking about Solomon and how God blessed him. and the Scripture said had 666 talents of gold each year valued at $1.9 billion a year that he would receive. He started out very humble. He started out with a generous heart, and when he dedicated the temple that he built to God, He sacrificed 120,000 sheep and tens of thousands of oxen, the choice ones, and offered him to God. And God was so moved by his sacrifice that that night when he was asleep in his bed, God came in his bedroom. And God woke him from his sleep and God said, what do you want?

3:38 What do you want? I'm asking you. I've told God what I wanted. I've never had God come to me and ask me what I wanted. But he did this man, and he said, whatever you want, I'm going to give it to you. And he said, I want the wisdom to serve the people. I want to be effective for the people and serve the people. I need the wisdom of God. And God was so pleased with that answer. that he said, I will not only bless you with that wisdom, but I will bless you beyond anything you can imagine. And so here he is, the richest man in the world. There's a book that's written called The Richest Man in the World. It's a bestseller, and it goes into great detail about the wealth of Solomon. Some of that I'm going to share with you right now.

4:35 $1.9 billion a year he took in in Bible days. At the peak of his leadership, he had a net worth, if you do it in today's value, of $2 trillion, not billion, $2 trillion. 25 tons of gold were received by him for each of the 35 years of his life. On top of all of that gold, just solid gold wealth of $2 trillion, on top of that, he had a fleet of ships that sailed all over the world. He built them, and he was so rich that according to 1 Kings chapter 10, all of his cups were made of gold, not a cup in his cupboard that was made of silver. he only knew one level and it was the gold level and he wouldn't drink out of a silver cup this man you think Bezo is having a 52 million dollar wedding this weekend Jeff Bezo or Bezo whatever it's costing him 52 million dollars to get married it's going to cost a lot more for the, no, I'm not going to say that. Let's just keep going. That was ugly. That was ugly.

6:05 That was, I'll get off of social media now, banned, censored. That's a joke. I'm just kidding. I wish him well. I didn't. I really didn't. I didn't do that in the first service. What happened?

6:25 Let's get back to the sermon. Not one cup of silver, gold only. Solomon, listen to this. He received tribute money from every nation every year on top of that, that was brought in, and they would pay him in ivory. They would pay him in precious garments, expensive, highly, highly tapestry and expensive things that were worth great wealth, spices and precious stones. It talks about diamonds and rubies. Some of them paid him in diamonds and rubies. We cannot imagine the wealth this man had. He had a throne. And the Bible describes his throne as being covered with ivory and pure gold. There were six steps that led up to his throne, and on each step there was a lion made of gold, a statue on the left and on the right, and 12 of them up the six steps all the way up to the gold and ivory throne. he had a footstool that was made of solid gold.

7:36 That's when you know you're bad. When you have a footstool made of solid gold. He had 4,000 personal Ferraris called stallions and the garages for 4,000, the stables for 4,000 in Jerusalem alone that he kept, his personal favorites.

8:03 Thoroughbred, Kentucky Derby, the best of the best bred horses. And then because he really liked them, he had another 12,000 scattered in case he traveled and they were ready at his beck and call. On top of all of the wealth that I've already described, he was a real estate tycoon. He owned all the land from the Euphrates River to Gaza and from Gaza all the way to the Egyptian border. The supreme leader of Israel owned it all. So much during his wealth was there in silver that the Bible said it was as common to see stacks of silver as it was to see stacks of rocks. They had to stack it up and just put it anywhere they could put it all over his properties.

9:06 When he started out and God spoke to him and began to bless him, he had peace. it's interesting he was asleep and God woke him from his sleep and he had rest he was in love with God he was serving God supremely wanted to build him a house was all about the temple, the church was all about the presence the ark of the covenant was all about sacrifice and serving the people and the Bible makes this comment about him in 1 Kings 4 in verse 24, as God began to bless him, he had great wealth, favor, wisdom, and there was rest all around him, peace with all of, Bible said, when a man's ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him. And he had that kind of favor that there was nothing. Notice the words now, rest and peace all around him. He's sleeping in his bed in his palace. He's, he has, He doesn't need security.

10:09 God is his security. And he is blessed and highly, highly, highly favored of God. And then something happens. The Bible said that he began to marry strange women, meaning they were not of his faith. They were not of the covenant. They worshipped idols. They worshipped, you know, we cleaned that up. They worshipped idols. If you were an idol worshiper, you were a satanic worshiper in the Bible. Always remember that. Check me out in history. I'm talking about child sacrifice. I'm talking about witchcraft. I'm talking about deep occult. And he, I just gave you all of his assets.

11:06 Now let me tell you about his liability. He had 700 wives. 700. And that's not a shade on women. I'm just saying one wife is all I can handle. How can you have 700 wives and then he had 300 hoochamamas? and he had 300 girlfriends, trap queens, whatever you want to call them, he had them. and every one of them were worshiping different gods. Now, this is so important. and I want you to see the grace of God and the forgiveness of God and the mercy of God because it didn't happen overnight, but he married one, and he married another, and somebody said, why did he do that?

12:01 He was trying to get the finder, and he found out he couldn't get the first one to submit, and the second one wouldn't submit, and the third one, and he just kept, I'm kidding. I told you one time he came home and he wanted to find one of them in a good mood. Amen. That's why he married 700. I'm full of jokes. You want some more? I'm not looking at Cherie. She's smiling, so we're okay. Praise the Lord. I'm going somewhere, I promise. All of this prosperity. Now watch. Now we move into the Song of Solomon. he loves Jesus. He's in his bedroom, in his bed, sleeping, resting, has peace.

12:59 He's not afraid of anybody, anything. There's rest throughout the land. He's got the favor and the goodness and the grace of God. It's a blessing. Now you fast forward. He's being pulled into sorcery. He's being pulled into worshiping other gods. There's idols all over his palace. There's idols all over his properties. There's idols all over his businesses. There's idol worship. There's fortune telling. There's all of those things. You know, the psychics and people that his wives are worshiping and burning incense and enchantments. Stay away from that stuff. It's dangerous. It's dangerous. Don't play with it. Don't joke about it.

13:51 Don't get around it. Don't dare go see a psychic or call a 1-900-California psychic. My God, they're about to fall off into the ocean if they don't watch it. Why would I want to follow you? I don't need a horoscope. I have the Holy Ghost, and he leads me, and he guides me, and I'm not going to let a devil predict my future. And I love California. Have a church there. He had gardens, he had pools, gardens, not cabbage and tomatoes. I'm talking about gardens that were architectural wonders, breathtaking beauty. pools, servants, horses, stables, ships, chariots, exotic animals.

14:55 He brought them in from all over the world for his own enjoyment. If I just get another house, he wakes up one day and now in that same bedroom, or not the same bedroom, but perhaps the focus now is changed and God is saying through this text, I want you to behold. If you notice the first thing it tells us to do in the Song of Solomon, the scripture that I read, he said, behold his bed. The word behold means I really want you. Anytime you see the word behold in the scripture, it means I really want you to focus on this. I really want you to see this. I want you in your mind to get a picture of his bed now that he's turned his back on me and he's serving other gods. And his mind and his brilliance is all about him now.

15:51 It's not giving glory to me. And so we see now he has everything, all these possessions. And the text said that his bed is surrounded with 60 personal bodyguards, warriors, the elite in warfare. We're talking about trained. Think of the movie 300. These kinds of warriors, 60 of them. It would have had to be six shoulder after shoulder after shoulder, layer after layer after layer, completely surrounding his bed in his bedroom. One group of ten, another group of ten, another group of ten, layer after layer with their swords on their thigh, ready to kill, to fight, to the death, trained all of their life like the Greek warriors used to be.

17:00 They came up as a little child being taken and trained to fight and defend. And he's so tormented. Why? Why does he have to have that kind of security? He's so tormented. He so turned himself over that the enemy has released a spirit of fear. As a matter of fact, I've got to read this verse, 1 Kings 11 and verse 14. Because he did this thing, because he married outside of the faith and began to be pulled into idolatry and witchcraft, which is rebellion, the Lord stirred up an adversary unto Solomon. And that was a tormenting spirit that took all of his rest, that took all of his peace. He was terrified that he needed more and more and more security from man.

18:01 there's no security in material things. I don't care how much you have. There's no security. There's no peace. There's no real rest. Oh, if I could just get that house, if I could just get that car. There's nothing wrong. The Bible said God loves to bless us and He enjoys in the prosperity of His children. But if it ever becomes about other gods gods and not the one God, Jesus Christ, then you don't understand what you're playing with. It's dangerous. For a man's life, Jesus said, does not consist of the abundance of things. You will not find life in material things. You can have it temporarily and it'll have a little bit of pleasure, but it will leave you empty as his words said, vanity. I have had it all and I'm telling you, Solomon said, without the God, it's vanity.

19:14 Some of you are thinking what I need is possessions. And the Bible said, behold, consider, closely inspect, look at it, walk around it. In your imagination, see this bed. 600 valiant men standing around it, armed with weapons, bodyguards around it. As soon as the nightfall came, the spirit of, just like Saul, an evil spirit of fear. For God has not, 1 Timothy 1, for God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And when you give yourself over to witchcraft and all of those kinds of things, and even idols of this world, you lose your peace and you lose your rest, you lose your security.

20:13 I don't talk. I'm not talking about just physical security. I have spiritual security. I know who I am in Jesus Christ. I know where I'm going. I'm not insecure. I am eternally secure. I'm not eternally insecure. I am secure. I know that I have my past forgiven. I have a reason for living. and I have a future in heaven.

20:46 And I'm secure in that. I lay down my head and I know if I take my last breath while I lay on this pillow, it is well, it is well, it is well with my soul. You know, you ought to shout over that. The Bible didn't say rejoice if you can cast out demons. It said rejoice if your name is written in the book of life. So we're going to take a break and we're not going another step forward till we just shout over the fact that you've got more security than 60 bodyguards. He's got you and your family in his hand and he said no demon can pluck you out. Thank you, Lord. There's no peace in possessions without Jesus Christ.

21:38 Here's the man who has everything. And this is the man with fleets and gardens and pools and pits worth two trillion dollars. and his bed had to be guarded every night with 60 elite soldiers armed for him to even have a hope of getting sleep because he is so tormented.

22:09 And the problem was not a monster under the bed. The problem was the monster in the bed who is running from God. This is so interesting. The bed was not the one in the palace. The bed, according to the scholars, the bed they're referring to is the one that he used to travel with. He had an entourage and they would go before him and all the stuff, his food, his clothes, his wardrobes, they would all go in an entourage of guards and elite group of soldiers. And in that was this bed and it was on wheels and it was being pulled by his beautiful horses. The point is, he thought if I can't sleep at home, then I'll start traveling and I'll go here and I'll go there and I can rest.

23:03 You can't have the peace of God until you have peace with God. And you need to quit blaming everybody for the reason you don't have peace in your own life and you don't have rest in your own life. It may be you can't have the peace of God until you get peace with God and you repent and you cry out to him and he washes you and he cleanses you and he breaks the spirit of fear off of your mind. It doesn't matter where he went, where he traveled, where he moved to. He was trying to escape his anxiety. He was trying. You talk about panic attacks. You talk about a man who is tormented with fear. He was tormented with fear. And he had everything. You know, I'm not prospering if I don't have peace. I don't care what you've got.

23:58 You're not prospering if you don't have peace. I don't care if you become, if you're one of the students here, if you become one of the chief cheerleading, leader of the cheerleaders. you're not prospering if you don't have peace when you lay your head down if you hear a voice in the middle of the night that wakes you up and says what are you doing and why are you doing that and why are you getting involved in that I can remember how the Holy Spirit would speak to me and wake me up in the middle of the night and I would get that feeling like oh God I'm not saved but I'm not ready I'm having I want to do my thing gives insight. Solomon was being tormented with fear. His problems were not external, they were internal. And he starts trying to run away. He's tormented with fear of the night.

24:57 Some of you need to be shaken. fear of the night needs to grip you. It's going to go dark one day. You may think you've got another 30 years, another 40 years, another 50 years. But the truth is, the fear of the night without Jesus Christ, the fear of death, the fear of going into eternity without God, it needs to grip you. You're playing Russian roulette with your eternal soul. This mobile bed is a man living on the run. Some of you are running from God. You're trying it over here. You're trying this over there. I'm telling you, there is a peace that will come over you when you really sell out.

25:55 It's miserable when you're running after these idols the world tells you will make you happy. Be like them and you'll be happy. Show me one of them that has that kind of prosperity in Hollywood or anywhere else right here in Gainesville. Show me one of them that has great wealth and does not have the Lord that truly, truly has peace and rest. There's something that's off when you have prosperity without peace in Jesus. And a man is living on the run for the fear of the night, crippled by paralyzing fear. He's peace poor and money rich. I had rather be peace, wealthy than prosperity wealthy I had rather be peace blessed than I had material blessing.

27:15 The crazy thing is when you put Jesus first, when your priority is the Prince of Peace, Jesus Christ, when you seek first the kingdom of God, that's when He takes you into things and blesses you and helps you when you obey His word and my God shall supply all your needs according to His riches in glory through Christ Jesus. Peace poor is worse than prosperity poor. If you're tired of living on the run, if you're tired of anxiety, see him at the end of his life.

28:14 Bodyguards cut off from everybody. Can't go, can't have normal relationships. He's like, for those of you of my generation, Howard Hughes. It's what the enemy does. He just seals us off because we're trying to get security from other things than Jesus. And you can't find peace and you can't find rest. and I'm telling you the Lord told me to proclaim this over the people that would hear me today you may be watching me in a mansion somewhere and you're peace poor. You got everything that life is supposed to make you really, really a big deal.

29:09 But inside, you're peace poor because you don't have Jesus. He is the greatest treasure. and what you're looking for can only be found in Him. what you're looking for has been looking for you a long time and this is what I felt that anxiety and fear panic I just see him he said behold his bed I want you to see this man every night he's got everything and he crawls up in that bed with 60 armed security around him and he's just laying there in torment of fear and panic. What's going to happen?

30:06 What's going to happen? What's the future going to bring? 1 John chapter 4 said perfect love cast out all fear perfect love is Jesus Christ on a cross bleeding and dying taking your sins and saying I'll take all the shame and all the condemnation and I'll take the dark night of their life I am the light of the world and I'll trade it for light and if fear has tormented you if anxiety and worry has come over you if you're in a situation where you've lost your peace and I'm going to be very specific in closing this message if you don't know the Prince of Peace Jesus Christ is Lord of your life and you keep waiting and you keep waiting and you keep waiting.

31:10 God brought you to this service today. Wherever you're watching me at all of our campuses God ordered your steps today. I'm telling you fear is going to break off of you. I'm telling you that anxiety and panic and worry and torment, mental torment. Self-hatred, suicidal thoughts. Self-hatred. it's going to break in Jesus name I just proclaim it over you and I tell you all of God's word backs up what I'm saying right now your security your peace and your rest must be in Jesus Christ in Jesus Christ alone and he's reaching for you I really want to say thank you for joining us this week.

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