Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
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#Psalm 145:13
#1 Timothy 1:16-17
#2 Peter 1:10-11
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Allen Jackson Ministries | A King and His Kingdom Part 1 | December 14, 2021
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- CC BY ABERDEEN CAPTIONING 1-800-688-6621 WWW.ABERCAP.COM
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- Allen Jackson: Hey, our topic today is "A King and
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- His Kingdom."
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- We're doing a series on the kingdom of God, trying to
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- understand its importance to us, most of all to understand the
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- authority that is ours as citizens of the kingdom.
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- We carry a dual citizenship.
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- I have a citizenship with an earthly nation, and I suspect
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- you do as well, but I also have a citizenship in an
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- eternal kingdom.
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- Sometimes the two are in conflict.
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- Sometimes I have a kingdom of God assignment for my
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- citizenship here.
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- The more we understand the kingdom of God, the more fully
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- we can fulfill what God created us for.
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- Jesus said we pray our way into that understanding.
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- "When you pray," he said, "Pray this way...
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- 'Your kingdom come and your will be done, on earth as it is
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- in heaven.'"
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- We're gonna see if we can understand that little more
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- fully for ourselves today.
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- Grab your Bible and a notepad, most of all open your heart,
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- let's receive what God has for us.
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- Allen Jackson: We're working through a study, we really just
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- began it in the previous session, on the kingdom of God,
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- and I want to continue that.
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- If you looked ahead, there's a lot of Scriptures this morning,
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- and I don't really--we won't have the time to dwell on them
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- in detail, but I wanted you to have the references.
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- For you over-achievers, you can reflect on them later.
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- But the notion of the kingdom of God is an idea that I think for
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- the most part has been lost on us, on American Christianity, at
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- least in recent decades.
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- I think we're more aware of our denominational affiliation or
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- the congregation we attend or the translation we prefer or the
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- style of worship that's our first preference, or all those
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- things that really reflect more style and taste and preference.
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- They're not evil, they're expressions of individuality,
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- but what binds us together isn't those things that make
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- us unique.
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- We are citizens of a kingdom, and we need to understand that
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- because every citizenship comes with both privileges and
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- responsibilities, rights and responsibilities.
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- If you're more conscious of your rights than you are of your
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- responsibilities, the endeavor will fail.
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- It's true in a church, it's true on an athletic team,
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- it's true in a business, it's true in a nation.
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- And so it's inappropriate for us as Christ followers to be
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- focused primarily on our privileges or our rights, we
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- also have to understand our responsibilities.
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- So we're gonna work through this for a few sessions, God willing.
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- I wanna start with this notion of an arriving kingdom.
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- The kingdom of God is not fully come.
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- We've seen expressions of it, we've had some glimpses of it,
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- Jesus certainly modeled it for us so that we might live in
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- fuller expression of that kingdom.
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- Prior to Jesus presentation, our revelation of God's kingdom was
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- very incomplete.
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- He pulled back the curtain a bit, but his kingdom is not
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- fully come.
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- In fact, Jesus's disciples, when they asked him to teach them to
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- pray, Jesus gave them a template for prayer.
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- You know it, you're familiar with it, but in that template
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- for prayer he provided us insight into God's plan for our
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- lives, a prayer which would enable each obedient disciple to
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- become a petitioner for the purposes of God.
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- Did you know that's your life assignment, to become a
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- persistent petitioner for the purposes of God in the earth?
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- People say to me frequently, "Pastor, I'd do whatever God
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- wanted me to do if I just knew what he wanted me to do."
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- He wants you to become a persistent petitioner for the
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- purposes of God on the earth.
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- If you're not offering those petitions with persistence, why
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- should he entrust you with any other assignment?
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- If you don't have a passion, a desire, an overwhelming concern
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- for God's purposes in the earth, why should he give you an
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- assignment so you can be indifferent to it?
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- Well, I'll get to it right after I'm done with my favorite hobby.
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- No, I don't understand God to interact with us in that way.
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- Do you remember the prayer he taught his disciples?
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- It's in Matthew 6, it's in your notes.
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- He said, "Pray, then, in this way."
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- They ask, he said, "Okay."
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- "Pray...
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- this way: 'Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.
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- Your kingdom come.
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- Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.'"
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- What's going to cause God's will to be expressed in the earth?
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- The fullest expression of his kingdom in the earth.
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- "Give us this day our daily bread.
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- And forgive us our debts, as we've forgiven our debtors.
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- Don't lead us into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
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- For Yours is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory,
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- forever and ever."
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- Jesus's patterned prayer makes one thing perfectly clear, our
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- first request in prayer should be for the arrival of the
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- kingdom of God.
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- I won't ask for a show of hands 'cause we're in church and we'd
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- all go, "Well, uh, yeah," but with what frequency do you pray
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- for the arrival of the kingdom of God?
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- This prayer begins and ends with the declaration of the kingdom
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- of God.
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- Now, I think we're gonna learn a bit lesson after lesson, session
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- after session about the kingdom of God.
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- If we got it all at once we'd lose more than we'd want to, so
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- we're gonna keep looking at some characteristics of the kingdom
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- of God.
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- Psalm 145, in verse 13, says, "Your kingdom is an everlasting
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- kingdom, and your dominion endures through
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- all generations."
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- See, when we talk about the kingdom of God,
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- it's a spiritual kingdom, it's an eternal kingdom.
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- We've talked a bit about dual citizenship, we're gonna talk a
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- bit about it more.
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- You have a citizenship to an earthly nation and a little
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- passport, mine's blue, it says, "United States of America,"
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- comes with a certain rights and privileges, but I'm also a
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- citizen of the kingdom of heaven.
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- Now, this nation will pass away, it has a termination date.
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- I don't know when that is, but it's not a permanent thing, but
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- my citizenship in the kingdom of God is eternal.
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- The Psalm 145, said, "Your kingdom is an
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- everlasting kingdom."
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- So which kingdom would you rather be more fully engaged in,
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- a temporary one, or an eternal one?
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- You can think about that if you're not quite sure, but it
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- bears some meditation.
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- 1 Timothy chapter 1, this is Paul writing to Timothy, a young
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- man he's coaching, mentoring in the faith, "But for that very
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- reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners,
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- Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example
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- for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life."
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- Paul is reminding Timothy that participation in the kingdom of
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- God comes through a person, not an organization, not a building,
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- comes through a person, through Jesus Christ.
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- And then he concludes it with this beautiful statement.
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- "Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the
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- only God."
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- That's the King of our kingdom, he's eternal, he's immortal,
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- he's invisible, you can't contact him with the senses that
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- you're given with your earth suit.
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- Your sense of sight and hearing and smell and touch, those
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- things are necessary to traverse your season through time under
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- the sun, but we are citizens of an eternal kingdom, and we're
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- gonna need other criteria to engage with that kingdom.
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- Psalm 29, verse 10, this is an intriguing verse to me, "The
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- Lord sat as King at the flood; Yes, the Lord sits as
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- King forever."
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- Did you ever think of Jesus sitting as King over the flood
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- that engulfed the earth?
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- It's an eternal kingdom.
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- There's nothing that happens on the earth that our King is
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- unaware of.
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- It's not a threat, that's a promise.
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- In fact, if you're engaged in behaviors that you hope the
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- King's not paying attention to, why?
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- Why?
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- Just as a suggestion, begin to think about your life being open
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- before the King.
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- The words you speak, the plans you make, the thoughts of your
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- heart, the ambitions that you don't tell other people but that
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- you hold inwardly, all of those are open before the King, so
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- begin to align them with his kingdom purposes.
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- And if you're conscious that you have ambitions, dreams, desires
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- that are out of line, inconsistent with the kingdom of
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- God, then begin to ask the Spirit of God to help you to
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- bring fuller alignment.
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- That's the stuff of being a Christ follower.
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- You say, "Well, wait a minute, Pastor.
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- I said the sinner's prayer, I've been born again, I went to the
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- altar and I said that."
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- Folks, if you aren't intending to align your life with the
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- kingdom of God, a prayer at the altar will not change
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- your eternity.
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- We're not called to say a prayer, we're called to be
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- children of God.
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- Now, I'm not trying to call your eternity into question, but I am
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- trying to call your presumption into the light.
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- We have led a very arrogant life as American Christians, because
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- we've lived in a stable place, a place where we lived under the
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- rule of law.
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- Now, they may have been built around a Judeo-Christian
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- worldview, so we didn't really have to attend to those things.
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- They were written into our legal systems and our educational
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- systems and our higher educational plans, but folks,
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- that worldview has shifted.
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- We will have to live as children of the King.
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- 2 Peter chapter 1, "Therefore, brethren, be all the more
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- diligent to make certain about His calling and choosing you;
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- for as long as you practice these things, you'll never
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- stumble; for in this way we have entrance into the eternal
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- kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ."
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- Entrance into an eternal kingdom.
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- You don't join it, you don't earn it, you can't buy your way
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- in, it's not based on effort or good deeds, you have to be born
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- into that kingdom.
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- It requires a spiritual birth, the same way to have an earth
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- suit you have to be born into this world, you're born of
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- the flesh.
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- Well, Jesus said we had to be born of water and the Spirit to
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- enter the kingdom of God.
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- That's why we talk about conversion experiences,
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- salvation, that's the benefit of that sinner's prayer, that
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- prayer of salvation, that's the launch point of expressing your
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- faith in Jesus.
- 00:10:13.102 --> 00:10:14.437
- In Romans, it says you have to believe in your heart and
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- confess with your mouth.
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- If you have never done that, today's a good day.
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- Today's a good day, you don't need a church or a pastor to
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- do that.
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- Oh, they can help and they can facilitate and they could also
- 00:10:25.014 --> 00:10:27.150
- hinder, but you need to know how to do that so you can help
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- friends and families and neighbors and whomever the Lord
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- puts in front of you.
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- If you'll commit yourself to being good at that, helping
- 00:10:33.890 --> 00:10:36.426
- people enter the kingdom, God will begin to put people in
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- your path.
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- If you've never led anybody to the Lord, you have reason to
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- begin to talk to the Lord about that.
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- "Lord, I wanna be better at that, I'm willing, I want to
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- have the courage and the boldness, I'll invest
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- some effort.
- 00:10:53.042 --> 00:10:54.377
- Lord, I'm willing, I'm ready."
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- If you'll begin to do that, God will begin to give you the
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- awareness of the people around you that would like to know
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- him better.
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- If you're not willing or ready, you're not willing to maybe have
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- somebody turn you down, not everybody's going to say,
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- "That's a great idea.
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- Could I?"
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- Not everybody will "say to you, Oh, I was hoping somebody would
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- be willing to pray that prayer with me."
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- Some people will go, "No, no, I don't believe that, and I'm
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- surprised that you do."
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- You'll get dropped from some invitation lists.
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- Some folks will just flat out mock you.
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- If you're not willing to walk through the negative side of
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- that, you're not worthy to be entrusted with the upside
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- of that.
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- We've had some sideways ideas around this stuff.
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- I mean, it was always somebody else's job, pastor, the
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- evangelist, somebody, it's not.
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- No, it's our job.
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- There is no solution to the problems that are facing us
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- other than the transformation of hearts into the kingdom of God.
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- It's not coming politically, it's not coming through an
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- ideology, amen.
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- See, when we think about our faith, we frequently think in
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- terms of church or denomination or some sort of organizational
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- expression of Christianity.
- 00:11:57.907 --> 00:11:59.709
- Not evil, these aren't inappropriate, but they're only
- 00:11:59.709 --> 00:12:03.379
- small expressions of what it means to be a Christ follower.
- 00:12:03.379 --> 00:12:07.383
- Many of us are more familiar with the language and the
- 00:12:07.383 --> 00:12:09.652
- principles of church or institutional expressions of the
- 00:12:09.652 --> 00:12:13.022
- Christian faith than we are with the realities of the kingdom
- 00:12:13.022 --> 00:12:16.125
- of God.
- 00:12:16.125 --> 00:12:17.460
- We know how to participate in a public worship service, we
- 00:12:17.460 --> 00:12:20.863
- understand the components, the component elements of
- 00:12:20.863 --> 00:12:24.033
- public Christianity.
- 00:12:24.033 --> 00:12:26.602
- We know words like pastor, minister, priest, elder,
- 00:12:26.602 --> 00:12:29.906
- bishop, presbytery.
- 00:12:29.906 --> 00:12:31.974
- But to become a Christ follower's to become a part of
- 00:12:31.974 --> 00:12:34.911
- the kingdom of God.
- 00:12:34.911 --> 00:12:36.879
- When you enter a kingdom, certain things
- 00:12:36.879 --> 00:12:38.781
- automatically occur.
- 00:12:38.781 --> 00:12:42.585
- I've entered many different nations, and there are certain
- 00:12:42.585 --> 00:12:44.720
- things that simply happen as a part of being under the
- 00:12:44.720 --> 00:12:48.090
- authority, the dominion of that civil authority.
- 00:12:48.090 --> 00:12:51.861
- You are subject to the principles of the kingdom.
- 00:12:51.861 --> 00:12:54.564
- You're under the authority of the monarch.
- 00:12:54.564 --> 00:12:57.433
- The enemies of that kingdom become your enemies.
- 00:12:57.433 --> 00:12:59.569
- You don't have to choose them, it happens automatically.
- 00:12:59.569 --> 00:13:02.538
- Your future becomes completely enmeshed in the future of the
- 00:13:02.538 --> 00:13:05.508
- kingdom unless you exit the realm.
- 00:13:05.508 --> 00:13:09.278
- It would be in our best interest to understand better
- 00:13:09.278 --> 00:13:11.814
- the kingdom of God.
- 00:13:11.814 --> 00:13:15.218
- Allen Jackson: Hey, this is Pastor Allen.
- 00:13:19.155 --> 00:13:20.489
- I want to say thank you, thank you for your prayers, for the
- 00:13:20.489 --> 00:13:23.292
- notes you send, for your generous support.
- 00:13:23.292 --> 00:13:25.728
- The honor of standing with you in this most unique season to
- 00:13:25.728 --> 00:13:29.031
- lift up the name of Jesus is a tremendous privilege for all of
- 00:13:29.031 --> 00:13:32.602
- us here at Allen Jackson Ministries.
- 00:13:32.602 --> 00:13:34.704
- We're walking through a very significant time, I believe, in
- 00:13:34.704 --> 00:13:37.473
- the unfolding story of the church in the earth.
- 00:13:37.473 --> 00:13:39.675
- God is shaking the earth.
- 00:13:39.675 --> 00:13:41.010
- We see the evidence all around us.
- 00:13:41.010 --> 00:13:42.879
- We have challenges in our nation that are unprecedented.
- 00:13:42.879 --> 00:13:45.581
- We have economic challenges, and I don't think we're finished
- 00:13:45.581 --> 00:13:47.950
- with those yet.
- 00:13:47.950 --> 00:13:49.285
- Our borders are open, there's political confusion, we're more
- 00:13:49.285 --> 00:13:51.687
- divided as a people than I've ever seen us before, and in the
- 00:13:51.687 --> 00:13:55.024
- midst of that, there's a desperate need for truth.
- 00:13:55.024 --> 00:13:58.194
- We're not sure what sources to trust any longer.
- 00:13:58.194 --> 00:14:00.863
- Things have been shaken, foundations have crumbled
- 00:14:00.863 --> 00:14:03.366
- beneath us.
- 00:14:03.366 --> 00:14:04.700
- In the midst of that, God's truth is more important
- 00:14:04.700 --> 00:14:07.169
- than ever.
- 00:14:07.169 --> 00:14:08.504
- The role of the church, I don't mean a particular congregation
- 00:14:08.504 --> 00:14:10.606
- or a denomination but the church with a capital C, God's people
- 00:14:10.606 --> 00:14:14.777
- accepting God's truth with the courage to speak it into this
- 00:14:14.777 --> 00:14:18.281
- season, it's gonna change our future.
- 00:14:18.281 --> 00:14:21.217
- Thank you for standing with us in the midst of this time, it
- 00:14:21.217 --> 00:14:25.054
- makes a great difference to us.
- 00:14:25.054 --> 00:14:27.623
- A generous friend of the ministry has made a million
- 00:14:27.623 --> 00:14:30.726
- dollar matching grant available to us between now and the end of
- 00:14:30.726 --> 00:14:33.796
- the year so that every dollar you invest in this ministry will
- 00:14:33.796 --> 00:14:37.533
- be doubled.
- 00:14:37.533 --> 00:14:38.901
- Think of that, it enables us to look at 2022 with an
- 00:14:38.901 --> 00:14:41.871
- expanding message.
- 00:14:41.871 --> 00:14:43.839
- We've walked through this year, and we have taken on new
- 00:14:43.839 --> 00:14:46.409
- opportunity after new opportunity, city after city
- 00:14:46.409 --> 00:14:49.512
- with radio and television and print.
- 00:14:49.512 --> 00:14:52.048
- We have tried to respond with courage and faith to the
- 00:14:52.048 --> 00:14:55.484
- changing seasons around us, but I don't think we're
- 00:14:55.484 --> 00:14:58.220
- finished yet.
- 00:14:58.220 --> 00:14:59.588
- Nothing but God's change in the hearts of our nation will bring
- 00:14:59.588 --> 00:15:02.625
- us the best future, and together we can stand partners and see
- 00:15:02.625 --> 00:15:07.063
- the name of Jesus lifted up.
- 00:15:07.063 --> 00:15:08.631
- I want to thank you in advance for your generosity.
- 00:15:08.631 --> 00:15:11.400
- I want to thank you for your prayers and thank you for
- 00:15:11.400 --> 00:15:13.736
- your encouragement.
- 00:15:13.736 --> 00:15:15.104
- May the name of Jesus be lifted up over our nation.
- 00:15:15.104 --> 00:15:18.240
- God bless you.
- 00:15:18.240 --> 00:15:20.242
- female announcer: Remember, every donation made to Allen
- 00:15:20.242 --> 00:15:22.478
- Jackson Ministries today will be matched dollar for dollar.
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- Also, when you donate $60 or more, as a token of our
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- appreciation we'll send you this beautifully textured bonded
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- easy-to-read, large print text and a one-year Bible
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- reading plan.
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- The wide lined margins make note taking easy during your
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- daily reading.
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- Together we are making a difference.
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- ♪♪♪
- 00:16:07.189 --> 00:16:17.233
- Allen Jackson: So, let's take a minute and think about your
- 00:16:20.369 --> 00:16:21.904
- Jesus decisions, because that's the doorway into the kingdom.
- 00:16:21.904 --> 00:16:25.341
- He said no man comes into the kingdom except by him.
- 00:16:25.341 --> 00:16:28.010
- There are not many ways to God.
- 00:16:28.010 --> 00:16:30.246
- All religions don't lead to the same destination.
- 00:16:30.246 --> 00:16:34.183
- All faiths are not the same.
- 00:16:34.183 --> 00:16:36.552
- I know that isn't politically correct, I'm not much more
- 00:16:36.552 --> 00:16:40.423
- politically correct than I am fashionable.
- 00:16:40.423 --> 00:16:44.560
- In Matthew chapter 10, verse 32, Jesus is speaking, he said,
- 00:16:44.560 --> 00:16:48.264
- "Whoever acknowledges me before men, I will also acknowledge him
- 00:16:48.264 --> 00:16:51.300
- before my Father in heaven."
- 00:16:51.300 --> 00:16:53.436
- Pretty straightforward stuff.
- 00:16:53.436 --> 00:16:55.237
- I want Jesus to talk to me-- talk about the Father--
- 00:16:55.237 --> 00:16:59.775
- Last night I couldn't say that the Sea of Galilee
- 00:17:03.179 --> 00:17:05.448
- was a freshwater lake.
- 00:17:05.448 --> 00:17:09.585
- I would prefer that Jesus speak frequently
- 00:17:09.585 --> 00:17:12.521
- to the Father about me in good terms.
- 00:17:12.521 --> 00:17:15.958
- Wouldn't you prefer that for yourself?
- 00:17:15.958 --> 00:17:19.128
- [congregation applauding]
- 00:17:19.128 --> 00:17:22.998
- But we were given a clue, "Whoever acknowledges me before
- 00:17:22.998 --> 00:17:27.103
- men, I will acknowledge him before my Father in heaven."
- 00:17:27.103 --> 00:17:30.539
- If your faith is a private matter, if it's not a part of
- 00:17:30.539 --> 00:17:34.610
- your public persona, it's a limit in your spiritual life,
- 00:17:34.610 --> 00:17:39.915
- and it's a limit I wouldn't be comfortable with.
- 00:17:39.915 --> 00:17:42.651
- Which means Jesus needs to be a part of your business
- 00:17:42.651 --> 00:17:44.954
- conversations, he needs to be a part of your recreational
- 00:17:44.954 --> 00:17:48.390
- conversations, he needs to be a part of every aspect of our
- 00:17:48.390 --> 00:17:52.895
- lives, because I want God's involvement in every part of my
- 00:17:52.895 --> 00:17:56.532
- life, amen?
- 00:17:56.532 --> 00:17:58.434
- You don't have to be weird.
- 00:17:58.434 --> 00:18:01.103
- In fact, I don't trust people in business if they start their
- 00:18:01.103 --> 00:18:03.906
- business conversation with me with Jesus language, so I don't
- 00:18:03.906 --> 00:18:08.811
- want to create that in you.
- 00:18:08.811 --> 00:18:11.046
- I want the quality of your character to be so intact that
- 00:18:11.046 --> 00:18:13.516
- people will understand you're a Christ follower because the way
- 00:18:13.516 --> 00:18:16.152
- you do business.
- 00:18:16.152 --> 00:18:18.154
- [congregation applauding]
- 00:18:18.154 --> 00:18:22.358
- People from time to time will ask me if I want to pray with
- 00:18:22.358 --> 00:18:25.327
- them before we engage in some business discussion, and my
- 00:18:25.327 --> 00:18:28.964
- answer's always the same, "Do you pray with every client?
- 00:18:28.964 --> 00:18:32.001
- If you pray with every client, pray on.
- 00:18:32.001 --> 00:18:34.770
- If you just pray with pastors, let's move on.
- 00:18:34.770 --> 00:18:38.073
- I prayed before you got here, I'll pray about you when you
- 00:18:38.073 --> 00:18:40.342
- leave, and depending on the fairness of your contract will
- 00:18:40.342 --> 00:18:46.916
- determine how I pray about you when you leave."
- 00:18:46.982 --> 00:18:51.620
- We gotta go, verse 3, "Whoever disowns me before men,
- 00:18:51.620 --> 00:18:54.390
- I'll disown him before my Father in heaven.
- 00:18:54.390 --> 00:18:56.792
- Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace on the earth.
- 00:18:56.792 --> 00:19:00.196
- I didn't come to bring peace, but a sword."
- 00:19:00.196 --> 00:19:03.132
- That sentence bears some reflection.
- 00:19:03.132 --> 00:19:06.602
- Sometimes we think that the assignment of Christians is to
- 00:19:06.602 --> 00:19:09.772
- create unity in every circumstance.
- 00:19:09.772 --> 00:19:11.774
- Now, I think as Christ followers we have to find how to
- 00:19:11.774 --> 00:19:14.043
- stand together.
- 00:19:14.043 --> 00:19:15.511
- If we can disagree on a point and both go to heaven, I will
- 00:19:15.511 --> 00:19:17.846
- extend to you the hand of fellowship.
- 00:19:17.846 --> 00:19:20.616
- We can disagree on what you believe about eschatology, how
- 00:19:20.616 --> 00:19:23.152
- the world's gonna end, when the Rapture is going to take place.
- 00:19:23.152 --> 00:19:26.121
- Pre-, mid-, post-tribulation, I could make a point from--I can
- 00:19:26.121 --> 00:19:30.059
- make a biblical point of view from all three perspectives.
- 00:19:30.059 --> 00:19:32.494
- I have an opinion, but I don't want to break fellowship with
- 00:19:32.494 --> 00:19:35.030
- somebody about something that, at the end of the day, my vote
- 00:19:35.030 --> 00:19:38.100
- doesn't matter.
- 00:19:38.100 --> 00:19:40.102
- Whether we take communion every Sunday, every other Sunday,
- 00:19:40.102 --> 00:19:42.605
- whether we use fermented grape juice, purple grape juice, red
- 00:19:42.605 --> 00:19:45.374
- grape juice, I may have an opinion, but I don't want to
- 00:19:45.374 --> 00:19:48.644
- break fellowship with you over my opinion, they're
- 00:19:48.644 --> 00:19:50.379
- secondary issues.
- 00:19:50.379 --> 00:19:51.747
- I didn't say they're not significant, but if they don't
- 00:19:51.747 --> 00:19:54.149
- affect my eternity, I will stand with my brothers and sisters on
- 00:19:54.149 --> 00:19:57.253
- Christ on those points.
- 00:19:57.253 --> 00:19:59.655
- I will not stand with wickedness, ungodliness,
- 00:19:59.655 --> 00:20:02.625
- immorality, deception.
- 00:20:02.625 --> 00:20:05.394
- We are not called to be unifiers of ungodliness and godliness.
- 00:20:05.394 --> 00:20:09.765
- We don't have to be angry, we shouldn't be angry or bitter or
- 00:20:09.765 --> 00:20:15.804
- mean, but we're not asked to endorse those things.
- 00:20:16.972 --> 00:20:20.109
- Jesus said, "I didn't come to bring peace in every
- 00:20:20.109 --> 00:20:22.144
- circumstance, I came to bring a sword."
- 00:20:22.144 --> 00:20:23.879
- I'm not inciting violence.
- 00:20:23.879 --> 00:20:26.949
- I don't believe that's what Jesus was saying.
- 00:20:26.949 --> 00:20:28.517
- He said, "I've come to turn a man against his father, and a
- 00:20:28.517 --> 00:20:30.719
- daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her
- 00:20:30.719 --> 00:20:32.921
- mother-in-law--and a man's enemies will be members of his
- 00:20:32.921 --> 00:20:35.791
- own household."
- 00:20:35.791 --> 00:20:37.159
- What's he talking about?
- 00:20:37.159 --> 00:20:38.494
- He's talking about your allegiance to the kingdom of God
- 00:20:38.494 --> 00:20:40.963
- has to be preeminent in your life.
- 00:20:40.963 --> 00:20:44.233
- Now, I'll leave that with you for some reflection and
- 00:20:44.233 --> 00:20:46.201
- some meditation.
- 00:20:46.201 --> 00:20:48.237
- Many times we endorse ungodliness and wickedness and
- 00:20:48.237 --> 00:20:51.173
- immorality and all sorts of things because we think that our
- 00:20:51.173 --> 00:20:54.243
- commitment to family or relationship is greater than our
- 00:20:54.243 --> 00:20:56.879
- commitment to the kingdom.
- 00:20:56.879 --> 00:20:59.181
- Again, you don't have to be angry, you don't have to be
- 00:20:59.181 --> 00:21:01.083
- mean-spirited, but do not align yourself with wickedness.
- 00:21:01.083 --> 00:21:06.655
- "Anyone who loves his father or mother more than me is not
- 00:21:06.655 --> 00:21:09.158
- worthy of me; and anyone who loves his son or daughter more
- 00:21:09.158 --> 00:21:11.360
- than me is not worthy of me; and anyone who doesn't take his
- 00:21:11.360 --> 00:21:14.363
- cross and follow me is not worthy of me.
- 00:21:14.363 --> 00:21:17.299
- Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life
- 00:21:17.299 --> 00:21:19.768
- for my sake will find it."
- 00:21:19.768 --> 00:21:21.670
- Your Jesus decision involves a great deal more than that
- 00:21:21.670 --> 00:21:25.574
- initial decision to be birthed into the kingdom.
- 00:21:25.574 --> 00:21:28.911
- It's gonna impact every decision you make as your life unfolds.
- 00:21:28.911 --> 00:21:32.881
- It'll impact your decision about who your life partner will be,
- 00:21:32.881 --> 00:21:37.186
- it'll impact your decisions about how you're going to do
- 00:21:37.186 --> 00:21:40.456
- business, how you're gonna handle your time and your money
- 00:21:40.456 --> 00:21:43.258
- and your discretionary time.
- 00:21:43.258 --> 00:21:49.031
- It's important, and Jesus gave us some very
- 00:21:49.031 --> 00:21:51.266
- specific admonitions.
- 00:21:51.266 --> 00:21:53.369
- In John 16:1, he's speaking to his disciples, he said, "These
- 00:21:53.369 --> 00:21:55.938
- things I've spoken to you so that you may be kept
- 00:21:55.938 --> 00:21:58.741
- from stumbling."
- 00:21:58.741 --> 00:22:01.143
- Various translations translate the Greek word a bit
- 00:22:01.143 --> 00:22:06.715
- differently, in the Greek it's the word from which we get
- 00:22:06.715 --> 00:22:09.585
- scandal or to be scandalized.
- 00:22:09.585 --> 00:22:13.055
- So sometimes it's translated falling or stumbling.
- 00:22:13.055 --> 00:22:16.625
- Stumbling works pretty well.
- 00:22:16.625 --> 00:22:17.960
- Jesus said, "I've spoken to this so that you may be kept
- 00:22:17.960 --> 00:22:20.295
- from stumbling."
- 00:22:20.295 --> 00:22:21.663
- It's a pretty good image I think, where we're walking with
- 00:22:21.663 --> 00:22:23.665
- the Lord but something causes us to stumble, we lose all of our
- 00:22:23.665 --> 00:22:27.236
- momentum, we forfeit any additional gains, we may even
- 00:22:27.236 --> 00:22:32.141
- stumble off a path, so we want to be conscious of anything that
- 00:22:32.141 --> 00:22:35.177
- would cause us to stumble.
- 00:22:35.177 --> 00:22:40.649
- OSHA wants to be involved in our lives these days.
- 00:22:40.649 --> 00:22:44.853
- There's a lot of decisions made around OSHA to keep us from
- 00:22:44.853 --> 00:22:47.322
- stumbling in the workplace.
- 00:22:47.322 --> 00:22:49.992
- Jesus is trying to help us.
- 00:22:49.992 --> 00:22:51.360
- In Matthew 11, verse 2, "When John, while imprisoned, heard of
- 00:22:51.360 --> 00:22:55.998
- the works the Messiah was doing, he sent word by his disciples
- 00:22:55.998 --> 00:22:59.201
- and he said to Him, 'Are you the Expected One?'"
- 00:22:59.201 --> 00:23:02.704
- Now, John the Baptist has had some things to say about Jesus.
- 00:23:02.704 --> 00:23:06.642
- Already he said he's, "The Lamb of God, that takes away the sin
- 00:23:06.642 --> 00:23:09.878
- of the world."
- 00:23:09.878 --> 00:23:11.747
- He's not inexperienced with Jesus.
- 00:23:11.747 --> 00:23:14.616
- But now he's imprisoned by Herod, a wicked man, and he
- 00:23:14.616 --> 00:23:17.252
- knows that his life is under dire threat, and he sends his
- 00:23:17.252 --> 00:23:20.255
- disciples to Jesus.
- 00:23:20.255 --> 00:23:22.891
- I'm not sure the question being posed is fully indicative of
- 00:23:22.891 --> 00:23:28.664
- what's in John's heart.
- 00:23:28.664 --> 00:23:30.833
- He wants Jesus to know he's in prison.
- 00:23:30.833 --> 00:23:34.703
- "Are you the Expected One, or shall we look for someone else?"
- 00:23:34.703 --> 00:23:38.273
- And Jesus answered, "Go and report to John what you hear and
- 00:23:38.273 --> 00:23:40.843
- see: the BLIND RECEIVE their SIGHT and the lame walk, and the
- 00:23:40.843 --> 00:23:43.278
- lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up,
- 00:23:43.278 --> 00:23:46.515
- and the POOR HAVE THE GOSPEL PREACHED TO THEM.
- 00:23:46.515 --> 00:23:49.585
- And blessed is he who does not take offense at Me."
- 00:23:49.585 --> 00:23:53.222
- John is about to be beheaded.
- 00:23:53.222 --> 00:23:56.525
- Jesus doesn't go get him out of jail.
- 00:23:56.525 --> 00:23:58.861
- He could have.
- 00:23:58.861 --> 00:24:01.096
- The angels released Peter when he was imprisoned after James
- 00:24:01.096 --> 00:24:03.832
- had been beheaded in the book of Acts.
- 00:24:03.832 --> 00:24:07.169
- And John sends his disciples to Jesus just in case he was busy,
- 00:24:07.169 --> 00:24:10.072
- just in case he hadn't checked his social media for a few days.
- 00:24:10.072 --> 00:24:15.878
- "Go ask him."
- 00:24:15.878 --> 00:24:17.746
- And Jesus said, "Blessed is the one who doesn't stumble because
- 00:24:17.746 --> 00:24:21.950
- of me."
- 00:24:21.950 --> 00:24:23.652
- Jesus is a point of stumbling, we should be certain of that.
- 00:24:23.652 --> 00:24:28.156
- We stumble for different reasons.
- 00:24:28.156 --> 00:24:29.491
- Sometimes we stumble because we recognize that aligning
- 00:24:29.491 --> 00:24:33.662
- ourselves with Jesus will make us different, and for some
- 00:24:33.662 --> 00:24:37.099
- people that will be offensive.
- 00:24:37.099 --> 00:24:39.401
- Not a new thing, it happened to Jesus himself.
- 00:24:39.401 --> 00:24:41.436
- In Matthew 13, he's gone to his hometown, he's teaching in their
- 00:24:41.436 --> 00:24:44.573
- synagogue, it's his custom.
- 00:24:44.573 --> 00:24:46.875
- "They were astonished, and they said, 'Where did this man get
- 00:24:46.875 --> 00:24:49.077
- this wisdom and these miraculous powers?'"
- 00:24:49.077 --> 00:24:52.014
- Remember, this is Nazareth, this is where he grew up.
- 00:24:52.014 --> 00:24:55.183
- "Isn't this the carpenter's son?
- 00:24:55.183 --> 00:24:56.552
- Is not His mother called Mary, and aren't His brothers James
- 00:24:56.552 --> 00:24:58.654
- and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
- 00:24:58.654 --> 00:25:00.222
- And His sisters, are not they with us?
- 00:25:00.222 --> 00:25:02.357
- Where then did this man get all these things?"
- 00:25:02.357 --> 00:25:06.562
- Just who does he think he is?
- 00:25:06.562 --> 00:25:09.631
- Look at the next sentence, "And they took offense at Him."
- 00:25:09.631 --> 00:25:12.734
- Literally they stumbled because of him.
- 00:25:12.734 --> 00:25:16.038
- They're in the synagogue, they've gone to service, they
- 00:25:16.038 --> 00:25:19.675
- didn't go to the lake, they're not at the ballgame.
- 00:25:19.675 --> 00:25:22.010
- They went to synagogue and Jesus reads from the Scripture, his
- 00:25:22.010 --> 00:25:25.180
- reputation has grown by this point.
- 00:25:25.180 --> 00:25:26.782
- They realize he has a reputation beyond their village, but they,
- 00:25:26.782 --> 00:25:29.585
- "We know this clown.
- 00:25:29.585 --> 00:25:32.321
- He played soccer with our kids.
- 00:25:32.321 --> 00:25:35.457
- Just who does he think he is?"
- 00:25:35.457 --> 00:25:41.263
- You see, if we're not careful, the fact that Jesus causes us to
- 00:25:41.263 --> 00:25:44.232
- be different we'll consider to be a stumbling block, we don't
- 00:25:44.232 --> 00:25:47.836
- want to be different.
- 00:25:47.836 --> 00:25:50.305
- Another way to evaluate your journey of your spiritual growth
- 00:25:50.305 --> 00:25:55.010
- is how willing you are to be distinctive.
- 00:25:55.010 --> 00:25:57.112
- Again, not weird, not strange, not bizarre.
- 00:25:57.112 --> 00:26:00.315
- Are you willing to be distinctive from the people who
- 00:26:00.315 --> 00:26:02.150
- have no interest in honoring God?
- 00:26:02.150 --> 00:26:05.220
- Allen Jackson: You know, for all of us that walk with the Lord,
- 00:26:05.220 --> 00:26:06.955
- we understand something, there are times when there is an
- 00:26:06.955 --> 00:26:09.124
- offense in Jesus.
- 00:26:09.124 --> 00:26:11.026
- There's an invitation he puts before us that feels offensive
- 00:26:11.026 --> 00:26:14.429
- or perhaps in someone that we care about.
- 00:26:14.429 --> 00:26:16.698
- Well, I wanna pray today that we'll have the courage to say
- 00:26:16.698 --> 00:26:18.934
- yes to him no matter the invitation.
- 00:26:18.934 --> 00:26:21.336
- Father, I thank you that you love us, that you invite us to
- 00:26:21.336 --> 00:26:24.072
- follow you with complete obedience.
- 00:26:24.072 --> 00:26:25.841
- Give us the courage and the boldness to do so.
- 00:26:25.841 --> 00:26:28.610
- In Jesus's name, amen.
- 00:26:28.610 --> 00:26:30.612
- ♪♪♪
- 00:26:30.612 --> 00:26:36.284
- male announcer: Join us every week for another exciting
- 00:26:36.284 --> 00:26:38.353
- message from Pastor Allen Jackson.
- 00:26:38.353 --> 00:26:40.555
- And until then, visit us online and discover remarkable
- 00:26:40.555 --> 00:26:44.092
- information and resources to help take your Christian life to
- 00:26:44.092 --> 00:26:47.696
- the next level.
- 00:26:47.696 --> 00:26:49.197
- And if you're visiting the Nashville area, we'd love to see
- 00:26:49.197 --> 00:26:51.933
- you at World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro.
- 00:26:51.933 --> 00:26:54.770
- We're easy to find, so look us up when you're
- 00:26:54.770 --> 00:26:56.571
- traveling through.
- 00:26:56.571 --> 00:26:57.906
- And don't forget to connect with Pastor Jackson every day through
- 00:26:57.906 --> 00:27:00.509
- social media.
- 00:27:00.509 --> 00:27:02.344
- Thanks so much for joining us and being a part of
- 00:27:02.344 --> 00:27:04.546
- this ministry.
- 00:27:04.546 --> 00:27:05.881
- We'll see you again next time for another encounter with
- 00:27:05.881 --> 00:27:07.949
- Pastor Allen Jackson.
- 00:27:07.949 --> 00:27:07.949
