Read Textual Sermon from Jentezen Franklin
The Child Restored
Turn with me real quick to 2 Kings, chapter four. Let’s begin reading with verse 32:
“When Elijah came into the house, there was the child, lying dead on his bed. He went in therefore, shut the door behind the two of them, and prayed to the Lord. And he went up and lay on the child—this is so strange—put his mouth on his mouth, his eyes on his eyes (notice the detail of the Scripture), his hands on the dead child’s hands, and stretched himself out on the child; and the flesh of the child became warm. He returned and walked back and forth in the house and again went up and stretched himself on him. Then the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.”
I want to talk to you about this amazing story. Life was not there in this child until the seventh sneeze. Life did not come until the child sneezed—not one time, not three times, not five times, but seven times.
You know this story if you’ve ever read the Bible much. Let me remind you of what I didn’t have time to read. This child was working in the field with his father, reaping the harvest. He was working for the father in the field, reaping the harvest, and it was the heat of the day, the Bible said. The child had something happen mentally to him. The sun—many believe the sun caused the sunstroke—probably it’s what happened. And when the child had an issue because of the heat or the pressure of the day, working in the field for his father, he cries out suddenly to the father, “My head, my head!” And the father said, “Take him to his mother.”
She takes him, and it feels lifeless, but take him to the seat of his origin. Take him back where the child in him can be resurrected. A lot of Christians are crying, “My head, my head!” The pressures of life, the irritants of life, the sun, so to speak, beating down on them. But the child’s miracle happened when this mother laid him in the bed, and the Bible said she had made a bed for the supernatural in her house. And she lays this child, and when she lays him in the bed, she’s putting him in miracle territory.
And the Bible said she sent for the prophet, and the prophet came. The first thing that the prophet does is—the Bible said this—this prophet, symbolic of the Holy Spirit, laid on top of him and said, “Are you ready for a miracle, dead boy?” Then it begins when you start stretching for it. And when he started stretching him, the next thing the Bible said he did is he put his hands on the boy’s hands, and he put his mouth on the boy’s mouth, and he put his eyes—this is very specific—on the boy’s eyes.
A resurrection of the hands represents a resurrection of the work. A resurrection of the eyes represents a resurrection of the vision. A resurrection of the mouth represents a resurrection of the word. And he lays his hands on the boy’s hands, his mouth on the boy’s mouth, his eyes on the boy’s eyes, and he’s saying, “I’m gonna resurrect the work. I’m gonna resurrect—not only the work—but I’m going to resurrect the, the, the, the vision. And I’m gonna resurrect the Word of God in your mouth.”
I’m telling you, when we get down and we feel weary and we feel like we’re caving in mentally, the Holy Spirit wants to walk into our life and put His hands on our hands and say, “The work is not going down; it’s coming back up. And the word that I gave you is not gonna fall to the ground. I’m going to make it come alive again. There’s power in the word. And that vision that seems closed off and shut off and dead—I’m gonna open those eyes again, and I’m gonna revive and resurrect the vision that I gave you when I called you.” Somebody praise Him for the resurrection of the word, the work, and the vision. Kind of loony—get back. The whole key to it is the woman said, “I’ve gotta get that boy back to the original power—the original power of the Holy Spirit—who can resurrect the work. He can resurrect the vision. He can resurrect not only the work and the vision, but the word.”
The Scripture said that when he laid on him, the King James says he “waxed warm.” I like that. He’s dead. He’s not resurrected yet, but the first time he laid on him, he waxed warm. The word “wax” means slowly—slowly warming up. It didn’t happen all at once. He laid down, and the prophet felt the boy warming up. He wasn’t alive yet, but things were getting warmer.
You may not have your whole miracle yet, but you’ve got to learn to rejoice when things get warmer. You may not see everything you’re believing for and have it all, but I tell you, it’s getting hot in here. And you have to—you have to learn to go with God when you don’t see the fullness of the miracle, but at least it’s getting warmer. I can feel a warming trend. Things are getting better. Come on, talk like that. Things are getting better. It’s getting better, it’s getting better, it’s getting better. Doesn’t that sound crazy? Feed your faith, not your fears. Get a good image of a big tree and stick with it. Hallelujah. It’s warming up. It’s getting better. The marriage is getting better. The children are getting better. The finances are getting better. Talk the Word of God. Speak those—let Him resurrect your words. Let Him resurrect your vision. Let Him resurrect your work. It’s getting better. Somebody shout, “It’s getting better!”
Warming Up: Faith in Process
When he did that, the boy started sneezing seven times. If you look up “sneeze” in the dictionary, it says an involuntary catching of breath and expelling it violently, usually because something irritating is caught in the nasal passage. And what you’re saying is, “Get out! You’re hindering my breath; you’re hindering my life. Get out!” And there were seven—seven—sneezes.
In the book of Acts, the church started out powerful, on fire, winning thousands and thousands of souls, turning cities and the world upside down—signs and wonders and miracles and power and glory. But then something started hurting the body of Christ and its ability to breathe in the wind of the Holy Spirit, and they had to sneeze. We have to sneeze—the seven C’s and sneezes.
The first sneeze is found in Acts, when they had to sneeze out getting it done without the supernatural. We have become a bunch of professionals in the church. We think that if we’re smart enough and we’re programmed enough and we’re pretty enough and we’re cute enough and our lights are good enough and our musicians are cool enough and our buildings are big enough and pretty enough and prestigious enough, that we can get the job done. But we can’t get the job done without the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit. You’ll notice this.
The second sneeze is found in Acts chapter 4, when they said, “Don’t you preach in that name anymore.” I think it boils down to this thing—that you have to decide if you’re gonna be totally accepted in this day and time. Because if you’re a true born-again believer who’s doing everything you can to obey that Book and live right, you don’t fit in with this world, and you will not be totally accepted by people in the world. They will talk about you. They will make fun of you. They will persecute you.
Then we see another sneeze—the sneeze of greed. The kingdom of “thingdom.” Money, material possessions—get so blessed you can’t even tithe anymore ’cause you’re making so much money, and you’re afraid you’ll give God too much. The One who—give God a portion of your tithe; lest He be displeased with you, then give you a tithe in proportion to your giving, and vice versa. “Give, and it shall be given unto you.” I’ve never seen the righteous forsaken or his seed begging for bread. I’m not afraid of famine. I’m not afraid of earthquake. All you people listening down in Florida, God has never failed you. Don’t you—I know it’s hard. I’m not making light of what you’re going through. But I’m just telling you, man is not your source. The company is not your source. You don’t have to go back—not to the brook and not to the widow. You’re gonna have to go back to your source. Your source was never the brook. Your source was never the barns. Your source is God, and God never runs out. He will supply all your needs according to His riches and glory. Somebody needs to hear that. Give Him great praise. I won’t keep preaching, but give Him a great praise.
The fourth sneeze is murmuring. The Bible said that people started murmuring in the book of Acts—I think it’s the sixth chapter—because some of the Jewish widows were getting treated better than the Gentiles, and they had this thing going on, and they were murmuring. Just complaining. Talking down. You want to get the life of God back in you? Stop murmuring. Stop complaining. Stop whining. Would you like some cheese with your whine? Stop whining. Winos in the church—just whine all the time. God doesn’t want to hear it. He left a long time ago. Come on, church, let’s quit whining; let’s sneeze that out. We’ve all had hard times. We’ve all gone through struggles. It may be dark; it may be tough; it may be hurtful. But you know what? You don’t start talking and murmuring and complaining and finding fault. You throw your hands up, and you praise the God who can change things. Focus on the good. I said, focus on the good. Paul said, “I think myself happy.” Isn’t that a great verse? “I think myself happy.” You keep on murmuring, you’re gonna think yourself depressed, fearful, discouraged—tore up from the floor up. Quit murmuring and start being thankful for what you do have.
The fifth one is fear. The Bible said that they were persecuted, and they were fearful. We have to sneeze out the fear of failure, the fear of rejection, the fear of people. I hate fear. I’ve had to fight it my whole life. I do every time I walk to the pulpit. But I have found that fear is never, ever going to encourage me if I give a voice to it and listen to it. You have to shake it off, and you have to go in confidence and in faith, knowing the Lord is with you.
Let me give you another one. In Acts chapter 10, it’s the sixth sneeze. You know what it is? Prejudice. Cornelius is praying, and he’s a Gentile. And Peter says, “I can’t associate with certain people who are not of my nationality.” Prejudice had gotten in the church. But God gave Peter a dream, and he saw all of the things that were supposed to be unclean. And God said, “Kill and eat.” And he had to have that dream several times. And by the time that God got through with him, he understood—because somebody was knocking on his door, saying, “There’s somebody that has seen an angel, and they sent me to tell you to come to my house.” He perceived, “This is of the Lord.” What God calls clean, let no man call unclean. We’ve got to sneeze prejudice out of the church. We’ve got to sneeze this: you are not superior to anyone because of the color of your skin. You are not inferior to anyone because of the color of your skin. You heard me. I’ve told you before: I went and preached for a large church in Atlanta one time, and I’ll never forget walking in—and just me being white all my life, being raised—can’t help it—and I walk into this church. You know, all I’ve ever seen is white Jesuses, you know, on the little picture frames—sweet, blond-headed, blue-eyed Jesus in sandals—hippie Jesus, you know the one. You know the one I’m talking about. That’s all I’ve ever seen. And I walked into this black bishop’s office, and he had a black Jesus. Big old—the biggest picture of Jesus I’ve ever seen, almost as big as that screen—and it was a black Jesus with jheri curls. And it threw me for a loop. I tried not to, but it freaked me out a little bit. Then I went on a mission trip one time to Mexico and preached, and this Hispanic pastor had a Jesus with a sombrero on in his office. I’m like, “Will the real Jesus please stand up?” He’s all of them. He’s all of them. He’s all of them. He died for all of us. And prejudice has no place in the body of Christ, in the church, in the kingdom, and in our nation.
There’s one more—one more sneeze. You know what it’s called? Doubt. The Bible said that when Peter left the house, he left “doubting nothing.” In the vision, when he sneezed that doubt out—when we sneeze doubt out—Paul said in Corinthians, “I will come to vision.” I don’t hope so; I don’t wonder. He said, “I will. I shall come to vision.” There comes a place, if you walk with God and He’s given you a vision, it goes through death. You don’t have a vision if your vision hasn’t died. It goes through death; it goes through burial—and that’s where most people give up, walk away, and say, “I missed God.” But if you’ve really got a vision, something in you holds on, because it doesn’t just go through death and burial, but it will come to resurrection. And when it comes up and you finally are standing in that place, you’re not enthralled, and you’re not impressed with that place like you would have been had God given it to you on a platter. It’s something about the fact that when you do stand in your place of destiny, it’s not the place that you are amazed by—it’s the God who put you there that you’re amazed by. He doesn’t want you caught up in your stuff. He wants you caught up in Him—for His glory.
And I’m praying for the seven sneezes—that you would leave this room doubting nothing. I’m walking by faith, not by sight. I’m not doubting. God has spoken to me, and He will bring it to pass. My children will be saved. My body will be healed. My life will be blessed and purposeful. I will be free. I will know God’s plan for my life. I walk by faith, doubting nothing. Everybody say that: “Doubting nothing.”
Return to the Original Source
The Holy Spirit right now is laying His hands on your hands to resurrect the work. You can’t do it on your own. It’s not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit. So He lays His hand on you, and He’s laying His mouth on your mouth—that original prophecy. There’s a prophecy over your life, and you can’t die until it’s fulfilled. It’s time to go back to it—go back to the original source of power, the Holy Spirit. Let Him put His mouth on your mouth, His hand on your hand, His eyes on your eyes so that you’ll have the vision again for what God’s called you to do. You’ll have clarity. You’ll understand. “Now I see it. I see it.”
Raise your hands toward heaven. Say, “Lord, here’s my hands. Here’s my mouth. Here’s my eyes. Stretch me—stretch me. I’ve been comfortable. I’ve been a little comfortable in my Christianity, so stretch me again. Take me where I’ve never been. Stretch me, Holy Spirit. Take me into Your power, into Your will. Show me. Touch my eyes and let me see. Touch my hands and let me do the work. Touch my mouth and let me speak the word. O God, I give You my will. I give You my plans. I give You everything. I surrender them to You. Come, Holy Spirit, and resurrect the child in me. I want to go back to that original innocence—that when I first got born again, how much I wanted to please You; how careful I was in what I looked at and what I talked and what I said. I want to go back, like that child when I first got born again—how I loved Your Word and loved to worship. I don’t want to be tired and old; I want to be fresh and young spiritually. So come, Holy Spirit.”
Invitation to Salvation
Thank you so much for hearing this message. As a matter of fact, I believe you’re watching today because God wanted you to hear the message that I just preached, and I want to give you an opportunity to receive Christ as your Savior today. He loves you. Do you hear what I’m telling you? He cares. He has not given up on you. Don’t give up on yourself.
Pray this prayer with me: “Lord Jesus, I give You my heart today. I confess I’m a sinner. I need Your salvation. Thank You that You love me. Thank You that You’re for me. Calvary is proof that You love me and that You’re for me, and I receive Your forgiveness today. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”
You know, the Bible said if you confess with your mouth and believe in your heart, you shall be saved. I believe a miracle has happened today. Now it’s important you tell somebody. We’re overcomers by the word of our testimony and the blood of the Lamb.
Selected Scriptures (KJV/NKJV)
“And he went up, and lay upon the child, and put his mouth upon his mouth, and his eyes upon his eyes, and his hands upon his hands… and the flesh of the child waxed warm… and the child sneezed seven times, and the child opened his eyes.” (2 Kings 4:34–35, KJV)
“Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit, says the Lord of hosts.” (Zechariah 4:6, NKJV)
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” (2 Corinthians 5:7, NKJV)
“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved.” (Romans 10:9, KJV)
“I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread.” (Psalm 37:25, KJV)
Questions This Sermon Answers
- What do the prophet’s hands, eyes, and mouth symbolize for our work, vision, and words?
- Why is spiritual progress sometimes gradual, like “waxing warm,” before full breakthrough?
- What are the “seven sneezes,” and why must the church expel them?
- How do murmuring, fear, prejudice, and doubt suffocate the breath of the Holy Spirit?
- What does it mean to return to the original source of power—the Holy Spirit?
- How can believers hold onto God-given vision through death, burial, and resurrection seasons?
