Watch “The Greatest Love Story” Jentezen Franklin, host of Kingdom Connection & Pastor of Free Chapel.
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I will serve thee
because I love
you have gained
even life too
me
this is my testimony I was nothing
before you found me and you you have gay
living life to me
whoa
that’s all I have to offer bro
there’s so many rules
but there’s hope that’s what he done Oh
come
Oh
it’s why
you
a fun life to
me
put your hands together crazy
come on in clapping praise the Lord
Braes alone
you have your Bibles I’d like for you to
open them with me to the book of Hosea
the Old Testament Hosea chapter 1 let me
tell you what was taking place Hosea was
a preacher and a woman in the story
named Gomer was a prostitute so this is
a story about a preacher and a
prostitute immediately I have your
attention and Hosea was a we we call him
he’s just a good man he was a young
preacher he wasn’t up standing leader an
outstanding preacher he was a man of God
he was pure he was clean he was keeping
himself we would say he was unspotted by
the world life of integrity a life of
purity and an up and coming very known
preacher and like a lot of young people
who make the decision to stay in church
and serve the Lord they dream of one day
they keep themselves and hold themselves
back for one person you know Hosea was
not practicing safe sex with girlfriends
he was having no sex is called
abstinence in this generation needs to
learn about it and God says I’ve heard
your prayer one day I found your wife
it’s time to get married
enjoy married life praise God which one
is she Lord is she that cute blonde in
the praise team is she is she that is
she that brunette that new young girl in
the youth group I like her I thought she
was looking at me is that the one Lord I
know she’s gonna be a good church girl
the Lord says oh I want you to go down
to a certain Street on the wrong side of
town and I’m gonna show you which one I
want you to marry and he thinks to
himself well that’s a that’s a rough
area over there Lord but all praise God
under what it is she’s a she’s got a
kitchen she’s feeding the hungry and
she’s has an outreach and she’s
missing people that that are down and
out she’s on the wrong side of town but
I’m sure it’s a little ministry she’s
open he goes over and when he gets there
he sees prostitutes call girls harlot
sex trafficking on the corner and
they’re standing a girl with fishnet
pantyhose high heels tight many many
many many leather skirt biblical blouse
lo and behold she’s smoking a cigarette
and the Lord says to the preacher
there’s your wife marry her it’s a story
not just of the fact that he married her
because God told him to because if it
had just married her because God told
him to all that is is obedience and
submission to what God told him to do
but it’s more than that what what is
astonishing about this scripture is it
says he married her and he loved her
it’s it’s the power of God’s love in the
story of Hosea and Gomer it’s the power
and story of our love that God has for
us it’s not just that Jesus Christ was
willing to go to the cross and die if
all he would have done is gone to the
cross for your sins and my sins that
would have been an act of submission and
an act of obedience to the will of the
Father
but John 3:16 says that he did not do it
as an act of submission he did it
because he so loved the world that He
gave His only begotten Son that
whosoever would believe on him would not
perish but have everlasting life
it’s a story God said in other words
Hosea I want you to preach and
Illustrated sermon with your life of how
much I love the world by you marrying a
prostitute and in the same way that you
love her even though she is not faithful
to you I won’t
people to understand my love is not
based upon their performance its based
upon the fact god doesn’t love you
because you come to church on Sunday
morning God doesn’t love you because
you’re paying your tithes God doesn’t
love you because you sing in a praise
team or I preach that’s not why he loves
me he loves me and he loves you because
we are people and God loves people
that’s it it has not you bring nothing
to the picture
you see Jesus was the spotless Lamb the
upstanding sinless preacher and you and
I were the prostitute
we were the unholy the unclean the
unworthy we brought nothing of value to
the relationship it has nothing to do
with what we bring it has all to do with
the fact that the Lord left his luxury
in heaven to come down to the dirty
streets of our world to save and marry
and redeem us by his blood
it’s an astonishing love it’s an
incomprehensible love that God has for
you and I and just like Hosea loved the
prostitute Jesus the god of glory died
on a cross to manifest I don’t just want
to remove your sin to do it I love you
the miracle is not that he died the
miracle is that he loved you he loved
you just like you are and then life
happens they have a baby and Hosea’s
ministry starts growing and you know
things pick up at the church and he’s
going and the ministries growing he’s
spending more and more time in the
church and she’s resentful and and she’s
mad because she’s at home with the baby
all day long and where are you and
you’re not and on top of that she’s
upset because she’s kind of let herself
go and her body is not what she what it
used to be in her eyes she’s not pretty
anymore and you understand the
background she came from you under
stand it was all about her sex appeal
and and now in marriage you know it’s
not just that all the time and and so
now she she’s not hearing her husband
desire her like those other men and so
she’s not getting the attention and and
she’s at home and she decides I’ve got
to do something and he’s not he’s
ignoring me he doesn’t have time he
doesn’t praise me and he doesn’t love me
and so she goes to the gym and she
starts working out and there’s a cute
trainer there and I’m gonna add lib just
a little bit there there’s a cute
trainer there and he he begins to help
her and he’s touching her back as she’s
doing her setups and he’s gently
strategically placing his hand on her
leg as she’s working out and there’s
something the chemistry is going on
there and then she decides to friend him
on Facebook and they begin to go back
and forth just talking you know because
he listens to me talks to me shows me
attention my husband doesn’t do that
he’s too busy and this is how the enemy
does it you see and no marriage is safe
from that and she decides that you know
I’m what I’m missing is better than what
I have and so one day she goes to the
gym and he says hey let’s go have lunch
and they start having lunch and the next
thing you know it turns into a
full-fledged affair and before it’s over
it’s not just one man but it’s multiple
men she goes right back to what he
married her and saved her from now she’s
having multiple multiple affairs with
man after man after man and and yet God
comes to him again and God says to him I
want you I want you to go to her she
ends up in sex trafficking this is all
in your Bible now I’m back in the
scripture and she has a pimp who is who
is trafficking her and has her own an
auction block selling her body for money
to anyone who will pay the price and God
says to him and I want you to notice it
he says in Hosea 2 in verse 4
14 I will allure her I will speak
comfortable to her and I will give you
speaking to Hosea and Gomer I will give
you a valley in the valley of Achor I
will give you a door of hope I want you
to listen to me carefully
the family the marriage is in a valley
of Achor the word a-kor means trouble
and when the marriage is in trouble and
when the family is in trouble
God said I’ll give a door of Hope I mean
I don’t know of any marriages that would
be in more trouble than this marriage
that the Bible was talking about when
there are multiple multiple multiple
affairs and the Bible said God said I’m
making a promise to you and to all the
families of the earth because Aitkin are
of the valley of Achor is where akin and
his family were stoned to death so that
it’s family trouble it’s where the
family was stoned to death and they were
in the same valley of Achor and the
Bible said but I’m going to give a door
of hope this is God’s promise to every
family here I don’t care what the enemy
is trying to do to your marriage what
he’s trying to do to your family I don’t
care how severe the sin or the
destruction has been in your family God
says I give you a in the valley of
trouble I give you a door of hope
that’s why job chapter 14 and verse 7
said there’s a hope for there’s hope for
a tree that if it be cut down it will
sprout again verse 9 but at the sin of
water it will bud in other words if if
if you’ve been through divorce and
you’ve been cut down if if you’ve been
through sickness and it’s cut you down
unemployment trouble in your family and
it’s cut the family tree down at the
scent of water God says it’s bad as the
cut is and into the family tree and
maybe there’s been an affair maybe
there’s been all kinds of stuff that’s
gotten in the family and the enemy is
trying to cut the family tree down but I
will put in that valley of trouble for
every family a door of hope I won’t just
do that but at the sin of all
it will live again and water is the
Spirit of God I’m saying to you today
that love never fails I’m saying to you
that there are two ways to make a great
marriage and to have a great marriage
number one do everything right good luck
with that
number two walk through the valley of
trouble together until you find the door
of hope
listen to me we all say things that are
cruel we all mess up we all sin here’s
how you do marriage you when you get in
the valley of trouble in your marriage
and in your family you don’t abandon one
another you walk through the valley of
trouble until you find the door of hope
so you apologize you repent you make up
you cry you forgive and then you mess up
again and then you apologize and you
repent and you make up and you hold on
to each other and you find the door of
hope and then you mess up and you say
things and you get in arguments and you
disagree and you mess up and you find
the door of hope as long as you stay
together God says I don’t care what kind
of valley of trouble your marriage your
family gets in if you will stay together
and keep walking through that valley I
won’t leave you there I’ll always give
you a door of healing the door of hope
for you and your family so here he is
he’s buying a woman who has gone so low
that she’s now standing on an auction
block being sex trafficking to the
highest bidder
and you would think that that would be
enough but here’s the as as you do this
this is how I love Israel and he says no
longer will you call me he says this to
his wife that he’s remarrying over and
over and over even though you’ve done
the thing over and over oh I forgive you
and I love you and he says I will not be
called bit below which means master but
homey YCJA which means husband in other
words I’m not purchasing you to be my
slave I don’t want you calling me master
when I take you home I want you to call
me husband I restore you fully
I forgive you completely I am your
husband I’m not ashamed of you I’m not
humility love you call me husband call
me is shy he doesn’t want a relationship
of slave and master he wants a
relationship of bride and bridegroom and
he purchased her and he bought her and
he loved her and what I’m saying to you
is in the Bible names determine people’s
character Hosea means deliver in that
interesting but Gomer means complete
she’s a streetwalker a prostitute but
her name means she’s supposed to be so
much more God says you see a prostitute
I see a preacher’s wife you see I used
unworthy unclean never be anything I see
someone that my grace can get a hold of
and you see her incomplete but her name
means complete and God says I see her
complete and here’s the point if you’re
pointed in the right direction your
direction is more important than your
present location and you may have all
kinds of issues but if you turn and
change directions and move toward the
Cross God’s love will not abandon you
and maybe you’re not there yet maybe you
haven’t got free from everything yet but
if you’re moving in the right direction
the love of God will not let you go it
will not let you abandon you and then
walk away from you because your
direction is more important than your
location you may be you may be moving
slow but if you’re moving there the love
of God is going to get you there love
never
fails that’s why Jeremiah 29 he said I
know the plans that I have for you plans
of good and not evil listen to give you
an expected end I don’t look at where
you are I know where my grace is taking
you and I will not abandon you with my
love if he’s in Surrey and verse seven
that you’ve been rooted and grounded in
love may be able to comprehend what is
the breadth and the length and the depth
and the height and to know the love of
Christ he’s saying the love of God is so
great that you can’t find a bottom you
can’t find the top you can’t go this way
or that way and find the end of it he
just loves you
over and over and I love how when you
preach like this church people like to
act like
do you know how many times since I
married him at the age of 16 and got
born again and gave my life to him
I wish I could tell you that I’ve never
gone back and never said done thought
anything I shouldn’t the truth is I’m
just like that prostitute and that I
have failed the Lord and you have to
over and over and over and over and his
love says go again go again go again I
won’t leave you I’ll never forsake you
I’ll never let you go
no man can pluck you out of my hand
that’s the love of God last point some
of you it’s hard for you to clap on that
because I have read I understand I’ve
been born again I’ve changed my ways but
I’m just telling you if we put your
stuff up on that screen
and people with the who I never drink oh
my god
and God was that people would be sigh
didn’t know they would and God would be
saying I didn’t know that either because
the last thing I have in my records is
he repented and he asked for forgiveness
and the blood of Jesus the love of God
cleanses us from all unrighteousness
that even that’s the truth or we’re
working our way to heaven and good luck
with that everybody thank him for the
love of God come on
faking for the love of God
that’d make me want to seeing more it
makes me want to serve him more it makes
me wanna levy more it makes me want to
be thankful I found complete I’m
completing him stand up on your feet and
clap and thank God for his love so
here’s the bottom line I read this this
week on a plane it said when the judges
ruled then during the book of Judges
when the judges ruled there was a famine
in the land you ever read that anytime
judges rule there’s a famine but the day
that we turn to mercy and grace and the
love of God there’s blessing there’s
forgiveness there’s healing and here’s
the point that I conclude with
gomer like to be with hosea because he
made her feel whole he didn’t bring up
her past he didn’t talk about her he
loved her and that’s the way God loves
you every head bowed every eye closed
but why don’t you respond for God so
loved the world
look at that verse 17 he came not to
condemn the world but that the world
through him might be saved there it is
if you’re in this room and you would say
pastor Franklin pray for me I need Jesus
Christ to cleanse me I didn’t know he
loved me that much I thought that I
thought that I had disqualified myself
but this is the message God loves you
and he will never stop loving you and if
you move in his direction his love will
get you and transform you and change you
into the image of Jesus Christ pastor
pray for me I need the love of God to
wash me and cleanse me and redeem me
today I want to marry him I want my
issue I pray for me if that’s you boldly
raise your hand right where you’re
standing all over this room come on do
it
be bold get that hand up all over this
room there’s a hand there’s a there’s a
hand there pastor I need to change I’m
in the valley of trouble and I need the
door of Hope pray for me raise that hand
high and unashamed every one of you that
raised your hand I’m going to ask you to
boldly get out of your seat and walk
down that aisle and stand right down
here I’m going to lead you in a prayer
and the door of hope you’re gonna find
Jesus said I am the door and the door of
hope it’s going to be discovered in your
life today here they come come on here
they come come on here they come come on
come on I feel this church I feel this I
feel this that’s awesome that’s awesome
that’s awesome that’s it that’s it
that’s it love is the answer forgive the
key to life is given and forgiven the
key to marriage is giving and forgiving
giving and forgiving it’s continual
giving and forgiving giving and
forgiving giving and forgiving come on
come on come on come on get in as close
as you can
we’re gonna pray everybody in this altar
lift your hands toward heaven and say
yes I I marry you from this day forward
I receive you as my Lord Jesus Yeshua I
call on your name and I ask you to save
me cleanse me again you’ll never give up
on me I’m nervous
the reason I haven’t responded is I’m
afraid I’ll go back to it but I’ve heard
a message today that when I’m weak
you’re strong when I don’t have the
strength your love comes again and again
and again and today just move me in the
right direction and I’m going to rely on
your love and I’m going to rely on your
grace and by your grace I am free you
didn’t save me to put me in religious
chains but you saved me to free me and I
receive freedom from every addiction
from every chain of shame I am free in
Jesus name now lift your hands and thank
him for the great love of God
life is real vivid alive beating
breathing it happens behind closed doors
and out in front there’s joy there’s
laughter
and chaos
lifelong friendships are forged love is
found moments cherished and never
forgotten
life is a gift and together we are real
family
real friends real people
experiencing real life
is free chapel
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