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Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - A Conclusion; A Beginning (Part 1)

May 4, 2026 | 27:29

Allen Jackson - A Conclusion; A Beginning (Part 1)
Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#NewBeginning #Future #WalkwithGod #Journey #Fear #Timing #Season #Trials-HardTimes #Suffering #Persecution #Perseverance #Endurance #Faith #TrustGod #FearoftheLord #Believe #LightoftheWorld #Nations #AllenJackson

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - A Conclusion; A Beginning (Part 1) | May 4, 2026
  • ...
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  • Allen jackson: you know, around the world,
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  • People are searching for truth, and together we're doing our
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  • Very best to help them find it.
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  • Who are committed to strengthening the church and
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  • Sharing god's word through every available channel--
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  • Television, radio, podcast, books, bible studies,
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  • Digital resources, conferences.
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  • Your monthly partnership helps us equip believers to reach new
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  • Audiences, to take the hope of jesus to people who may never
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  • Have heard the gospel otherwise.
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  • Together, we can stand firm in our faith and make god's truth
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  • Known right here at home and around the earth, wherever
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  • God opens a door.
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  • Let's keep gathering his people and building his church until
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  • The day our king returns.
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  • You can find more about becoming a ministry partner
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  • At allenjackson.com/partner.
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • ♪♪♪
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  • Allen: we've begun a new study in the previous session talking
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  • About what's ahead of us.
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  • In many respects, this is a response.
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  • I've had a series of questions of late from a variety of
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  • Formats, and most of them have to do with things that are about
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  • The end of the age, and typically there's a tremendous
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  • Amount of fear attached to them.
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  • You know, somebody wrote and said, "what about the mark of
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  • The beast and we're shut out from
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  • The markets and we can't buy food.
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  • What are we gonna do? are we gonna starve to death?"
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  • I mean, just question after question with a lot of fear and
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  • A lot of anxiety and, you know, we have some kind of big rock
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  • Answers that we float around christian-- "oh, we're not gonna
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  • Be here for that, so you don't have to worry about it."
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  • So i wanted to take a few sessions and unpack with you a
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  • Little bit of what i understand the scripture to say is ahead
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  • Of us.
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  • In this particular session, i'm gonna talk about a conclusion
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  • And a beginning.
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  • Next session, god willing, we're gonna talk about some of the
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  • Specific events that i think will form the end of the age.
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  • In this session, i wanna talk more about the season.
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  • What can we know about the climate
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  • As we approach the end of the age?
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  • I'm of the opinion that that is what is before us.
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  • And anytime we talk about conclusions and beginnings, i
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  • Think there's some anxiety and apprehension.
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  • Most of us are, for the most part, creatures of habit.
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  • We don't really like change.
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  • You know, we like mama's cooking.
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  • I mean, that's just kind of how we roll.
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  • And it's not an evaluation of good and evil.
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  • It's something about our persons.
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  • There are some exceptions, but that's the deal.
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  • You know, i went to college in another state and so every year
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  • I'd move in and move out and i'd be sad when i
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  • Moved in and sad when i moved out.
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  • That's kind of pitiful.
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  • You know, and it took me two or three years to learn that
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  • Change is really okay.
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  • You know, if you're moving out, you can move back in, or if
  • 00:03:00.562 --> 00:03:02.564
  • You're leaving one place, you're moving in someplace else.
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  • And between here and the return of jesus, there's gonna be a
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  • Conclusion to this present age.
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  • It will come to a close.
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  • It's not permanent.
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  • The authorities of this present age, satan
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  • Is the god of this present age.
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  • There's spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
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  • Places that have tremendous authority in the earth today.
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  • That will not last forever.
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  • It's a temporary thing.
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  • It will come to a conclusion.
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  • And there'll be a new kingdom, a new authority, a whole new set
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  • Of things here.
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  • We're not gonna spend eternity someplace else, folks.
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  • We're gonna be around here.
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  • It's just gonna be dramatically different than the
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  • Current version.
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  • So there's an ending and a beginning.
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  • And i don't think it should be frightening.
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  • I think there's probably some apprehension around it because
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  • Some of it is beyond us.
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  • It's beyond our understanding.
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  • It's just not something we can fully experience or know like so
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  • Many of the things that we experience in life, and yet most
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  • Of those we look forward to.
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  • But i don't think christians look forward to this.
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  • We tend to build escapist mentalities.
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  • How can i escape that? how can i avoid that?
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  • How can i not be included in that?
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  • And i think the exciting part is to be engaged in what god
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  • Is doing.
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  • And so we began the previous session trying to dismantle some
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  • Of the fear that comes with that because what the word of god
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  • Shows us is that in these seasons when there are a great
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  • Change in the earth, that god's protection is present, even if
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  • It's in the midst of his judgment.
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  • And be certain of this, the end of this age is about the
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  • Judgment of god coming up on the nations who have refused
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  • His authority.
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  • That's the conclusion of this age.
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  • That's what the book of revelation is.
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  • Christians get all heated up about god's judgment on the
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  • Jewish people, and there was certainly some of that expressed
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  • In 70 ad, but god's gonna pour out his judgment on all the
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  • Nations for our rejection of his provision for humanity.
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  • But in the midst of that judgment, the bible gives us
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  • Portrait after portrait of god's protection so that we don't have
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  • To be afraid.
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  • And i don't want you to just--i don't want your default position
  • 00:05:04.319 --> 00:05:06.688
  • To just to be some escapist theology
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  • That "pastor, you know, i'm gonna get airlifted.
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  • That's not my problem. i don't have to think about it."
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  • Please, we'll talk about specifics and orders of things a
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  • Bit in another session 'cause when we have this topic,
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  • There'll be 30 people today come to me and say, "there's just one
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  • Thing, there's only one thing i want to know.
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  • There's just one--i just want one question.
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  • Pre, mid, or post?"
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  • They wanna know when we're getting out of here.
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  • And if they agree with me, they'll listen and if they
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  • Don't, they're done...
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  • That's a very, very, very incomplete way to approach the
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  • End of the age.
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  • Here's my suggestion.
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  • I mean, i want out on the first load up.
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  • I do.
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  • But i'm gonna prepare to run through the tape.
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  • And somebody may go, "i don't believe that."
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  • Okay, but in my life, it's always been better to
  • 00:06:03.145 --> 00:06:07.482
  • Be prepared.
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  • You know, i used to pray that god would help me with exams,
  • 00:06:09.584 --> 00:06:11.386
  • But i got better grades when i studied.
  • 00:06:11.386 --> 00:06:17.793
  • You know, i'd memorize verses on faith and i'd have a confession.
  • 00:06:17.793 --> 00:06:22.130
  • "i am gonna get a good grade," but i always did better when i
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  • Studied too.
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  • And i think if you'll approach your life with the lord
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  • That way.
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  • It's good to believe and trust and know the lord, but there's
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  • Some things that god expects of us.
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  • So the conversations about that season, we don't have to
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  • Be afraid.
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  • 1 peter chapter 3, we looked at it in the previous session.
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  • "who is there to harm you if you prove zealous for what is good?"
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  • It's a rhetorical question because the answer is a lot
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  • Of people.
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  • If you're zealous for what is good, there's gonna be
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  • People that don't like you.
  • 00:06:49.057 --> 00:06:50.392
  • If you're honest, if you tell the truth, you won't steal, you
  • 00:06:50.392 --> 00:06:54.296
  • Probably couldn't get a permit for a daycare in minnesota if
  • 00:06:54.296 --> 00:06:57.132
  • You were wanting to do it in an honest and upright way.
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  • That was last year. they've changed.
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  • Thank god, light brings some really good things, but we all
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  • Understand there's a lot of voices
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  • That are against doing the right thing.
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  • You've got enough inside of you.
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  • I didn't call your name.
  • 00:07:19.955 --> 00:07:21.556
  • I have enough inside of me.
  • 00:07:21.556 --> 00:07:23.024
  • "but even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness,
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  • You are blessed."
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  • That's a paradox.
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  • He said you're gonna suffer for the right thing, not suffer for
  • 00:07:28.063 --> 00:07:32.200
  • The wrong--if you suffer for the wrong thing, that's
  • 00:07:32.200 --> 00:07:34.135
  • Not suffering, that's consequences.
  • 00:07:34.135 --> 00:07:37.839
  • Suffering is when you've done the right thing and you get an
  • 00:07:37.839 --> 00:07:40.876
  • Outcome that isn't expected, that isn't proportionate.
  • 00:07:40.876 --> 00:07:43.912
  • He said if you suffer for doing the right thing, there's
  • 00:07:43.912 --> 00:07:46.882
  • A blessing.
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  • How many of you gonna get in that line?
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  • Not me either, but if you know it, it gives you the ability to
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  • Endure, to persevere.
  • 00:07:55.891 --> 00:07:57.259
  • This isn't pleasant, this isn't comfortable, it's not
  • 00:07:57.259 --> 00:07:59.160
  • Convenient, but god is watching and he's just.
  • 00:07:59.160 --> 00:08:03.331
  • And then peter says something remarkable.
  • 00:08:03.331 --> 00:08:04.933
  • He says, "do not fear their intimidation."
  • 00:08:04.933 --> 00:08:07.602
  • The presupposition is there'll be attempts to intimidate, to
  • 00:08:07.602 --> 00:08:11.373
  • Bully, to silence, to squash, to diminish, to cancel.
  • 00:08:11.373 --> 00:08:16.244
  • It's not a new thing.
  • 00:08:16.244 --> 00:08:17.612
  • It didn't start with social media.
  • 00:08:17.612 --> 00:08:19.648
  • "don't fear their intimidation, and don't be troubled."
  • 00:08:19.648 --> 00:08:21.983
  • Don't let fear paralyze you.
  • 00:08:21.983 --> 00:08:24.085
  • Don't let fear silence you.
  • 00:08:24.085 --> 00:08:25.453
  • Don't let fear cause you to retreat.
  • 00:08:25.453 --> 00:08:27.789
  • Deal with fear. it's a person without a body.
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  • Learn that you have authority over it.
  • 00:08:29.758 --> 00:08:32.360
  • I put a passage in your notes just in passing.
  • 00:08:32.360 --> 00:08:34.462
  • It's 2 timothy 1, "god hasn't given us a spirit of fear."
  • 00:08:34.462 --> 00:08:37.832
  • You have some natural fears, they're for your own protection.
  • 00:08:37.832 --> 00:08:41.102
  • There's a whole host of other fears.
  • 00:08:41.102 --> 00:08:43.004
  • There's lists and lists, dozens and dozens, over hundreds of
  • 00:08:43.004 --> 00:08:46.007
  • Phobias, and then most of them are not natural,
  • 00:08:46.007 --> 00:08:49.210
  • They're spiritual.
  • 00:08:49.210 --> 00:08:51.413
  • Learn to deal with fear. it's a person without a body.
  • 00:08:51.413 --> 00:08:53.782
  • Speak to it in the name of jesus, you're not welcome here.
  • 00:08:53.782 --> 00:08:57.252
  • I don't have to be afraid of the future.
  • 00:08:57.252 --> 00:08:59.854
  • God watches over me.
  • 00:08:59.854 --> 00:09:02.123
  • The bible says--the psalmist said, "when i'm afraid, i will
  • 00:09:02.123 --> 00:09:04.225
  • Trust in the lord, the antidote to fear is trust."
  • 00:09:04.225 --> 00:09:09.030
  • Learn to trust in the lord and the things that frighten you.
  • 00:09:09.030 --> 00:09:11.299
  • It exposes a place where you haven't yet learned to transfer
  • 00:09:11.299 --> 00:09:14.135
  • Your trust in the lord.
  • 00:09:14.135 --> 00:09:15.470
  • You still think you're responsible.
  • 00:09:15.470 --> 00:09:17.038
  • Some of you are terrified, what will happen to my children in
  • 00:09:17.038 --> 00:09:19.040
  • The world--in this world.
  • 00:09:19.040 --> 00:09:21.443
  • They're god's.
  • 00:09:21.443 --> 00:09:24.479
  • He's entrusted to them to you for a short season.
  • 00:09:24.479 --> 00:09:27.215
  • You teach them to know the lord, to walk in the fear of the lord,
  • 00:09:27.215 --> 00:09:30.185
  • To stand in the integrity of a living god.
  • 00:09:30.185 --> 00:09:32.687
  • God will lead them through.
  • 00:09:32.687 --> 00:09:35.357
  • He will lead them through.
  • 00:09:35.357 --> 00:09:39.027
  • We've got to start to live like we believe the things that we
  • 00:09:39.027 --> 00:09:41.763
  • Talk about.
  • 00:09:41.763 --> 00:09:44.466
  • Well, i'm gonna see if with god's help in the minutes we
  • 00:09:44.466 --> 00:09:46.835
  • Have to kind of paint you a picture of this season as we
  • 00:09:46.835 --> 00:09:50.639
  • Approach the close of the age.
  • 00:09:50.639 --> 00:09:51.973
  • Not in my opinion, but with some scripture.
  • 00:09:51.973 --> 00:09:54.142
  • There's three significant scriptures, i think, and in my
  • 00:09:54.142 --> 00:09:56.711
  • Opinion, you could disagree with me, but i think we're
  • 00:09:56.711 --> 00:09:59.280
  • Approaching the close of this age, the end of this age.
  • 00:09:59.280 --> 00:10:01.383
  • I don't necessarily mean this month or this year.
  • 00:10:01.383 --> 00:10:03.852
  • I don't think it's about our political cycle.
  • 00:10:03.852 --> 00:10:06.655
  • We get way too heated up about candidates and parties, folks.
  • 00:10:06.655 --> 00:10:10.692
  • In our nation, our political system is a reflection of the
  • 00:10:10.692 --> 00:10:13.528
  • Hearts of the people.
  • 00:10:13.528 --> 00:10:14.896
  • It's like blood work when you go to the doctor for a physical.
  • 00:10:14.896 --> 00:10:18.366
  • You get your lab report and your blood work, and the lab report
  • 00:10:18.366 --> 00:10:21.336
  • Doesn't make you healthy or not healthy.
  • 00:10:21.336 --> 00:10:23.071
  • It's an indicator of your health.
  • 00:10:23.071 --> 00:10:26.675
  • And i believe our political system is
  • 00:10:26.675 --> 00:10:28.143
  • An indicator of our health.
  • 00:10:28.143 --> 00:10:29.477
  • We should be having choices between multiple candidates of
  • 00:10:29.477 --> 00:10:32.947
  • Multiple parties that all have godly biblical worldviews.
  • 00:10:32.947 --> 00:10:37.552
  • We don't have that.
  • 00:10:37.552 --> 00:10:40.121
  • Because those of us who are godly and have a biblical
  • 00:10:40.121 --> 00:10:42.791
  • Worldview have been so quiet, so timid, so frightened, we have
  • 00:10:42.791 --> 00:10:45.960
  • Withdrawn from the public square in academia that we have
  • 00:10:45.960 --> 00:10:48.963
  • Relinquished those places in the training of several generations
  • 00:10:48.963 --> 00:10:52.333
  • Now in ungodliness.
  • 00:10:52.333 --> 00:10:56.304
  • So when you turn on the light in the darkness, everybody squints.
  • 00:10:56.304 --> 00:11:02.043
  • I think we're at the end of the age, we're approaching it.
  • 00:11:02.043 --> 00:11:04.079
  • So, there's some things i can tell you will happen.
  • 00:11:04.079 --> 00:11:06.448
  • Righteousness and wickedness are going to increase, both.
  • 00:11:06.448 --> 00:11:11.553
  • I believe their light will shine and the darkness will deepen.
  • 00:11:11.553 --> 00:11:17.225
  • And i believe we're gonna have to learn to live in that
  • 00:11:17.225 --> 00:11:19.928
  • Paradox, in that antithesis, those two expressions that seem
  • 00:11:19.928 --> 00:11:22.964
  • So diametrically opposed.
  • 00:11:22.964 --> 00:11:25.266
  • Let's start with isaiah 60 in verse 1.
  • 00:11:25.266 --> 00:11:28.503
  • Says, "arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory
  • 00:11:28.503 --> 00:11:30.805
  • Of the lord rises upon you.
  • 00:11:30.805 --> 00:11:32.140
  • See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over
  • 00:11:32.140 --> 00:11:34.876
  • The peoples."
  • 00:11:34.876 --> 00:11:36.544
  • That's a pretty gloomy scenario.
  • 00:11:36.544 --> 00:11:39.214
  • Not just darkness, but thick darkness, impenetrable darkness.
  • 00:11:39.214 --> 00:11:44.152
  • You know, that kind of absence of light where you can't see,
  • 00:11:44.152 --> 00:11:47.455
  • Your eyes don't adjust.
  • 00:11:47.455 --> 00:11:51.159
  • "but the lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
  • 00:11:51.159 --> 00:11:55.663
  • And nations will come to your light, and kings to the
  • 00:11:55.663 --> 00:11:58.533
  • Brightness of your dawn."
  • 00:11:58.533 --> 00:12:00.869
  • I don't believe that's just poetic rhetoric coming
  • 00:12:00.869 --> 00:12:03.404
  • From isaiah.
  • 00:12:03.404 --> 00:12:05.173
  • I believe he's describing something as we approach the end
  • 00:12:05.173 --> 00:12:07.509
  • Of the age, the thick darkness that will settle upon the earth
  • 00:12:07.509 --> 00:12:10.845
  • And the light of god being expressed, and it's the outcome
  • 00:12:10.845 --> 00:12:15.250
  • That fascinates me, he said, "nations will come to your light
  • 00:12:15.250 --> 00:12:18.653
  • And kings to the brightness of your dawn."
  • 00:12:18.653 --> 00:12:22.223
  • I believe we'll see nations impacted by the light of god.
  • 00:12:22.223 --> 00:12:26.628
  • It's been a long time since we've talked about that.
  • 00:12:26.628 --> 00:12:29.597
  • In fact, having that attitude, that missional attitude, it's
  • 00:12:29.597 --> 00:12:32.200
  • Fallen out of favor.
  • 00:12:32.200 --> 00:12:33.535
  • It's not chic anymore.
  • 00:12:33.535 --> 00:12:35.603
  • It's kind of gotten linked to colonialism, and we know that's
  • 00:12:35.603 --> 00:12:37.906
  • Bad and it's probably not far from the patriarchy, and we know
  • 00:12:37.906 --> 00:12:40.275
  • That's evil, all the stuff.
  • 00:12:40.275 --> 00:12:43.645
  • So we're really not that assertive any longer in sharing
  • 00:12:43.645 --> 00:12:47.382
  • Our faith or imagining that nations or cultures
  • 00:12:47.382 --> 00:12:50.151
  • Should change.
  • 00:12:50.151 --> 00:12:53.454
  • What has happened to us? what has happened to us?
  • 00:12:53.454 --> 00:12:59.894
  • If eternity is real,
  • 00:12:59.894 --> 00:13:02.664
  • We can't just smile kindly at people living in the darkness.
  • 00:13:02.664 --> 00:13:09.571
  • We're not condemning, we're not belittling, we're not suggesting
  • 00:13:09.571 --> 00:13:13.208
  • They adopt our dress code or our menu, but we have to tell them
  • 00:13:13.208 --> 00:13:18.513
  • About the king.
  • 00:13:18.513 --> 00:13:20.348
  • That's our assignment.
  • 00:13:20.348 --> 00:13:23.117
  • But the good news that isaiah is highlighting is that wherever
  • 00:13:23.117 --> 00:13:26.354
  • Light meets darkness, and please remember this, wherever light
  • 00:13:26.354 --> 00:13:30.558
  • Meets darkness, light wins.
  • 00:13:30.558 --> 00:13:36.731
  • You know, when the sun sets down, if you walk in the kitchen
  • 00:13:36.731 --> 00:13:39.968
  • And you turn on the light switch and nothing happens, you don't
  • 00:13:39.968 --> 00:13:44.806
  • Go, "oh my god, the darkness has overcome us."
  • 00:13:44.806 --> 00:13:49.577
  • You're going, "the lights aren't working.
  • 00:13:49.577 --> 00:13:52.614
  • Somebody go check the breaker."
  • 00:13:52.614 --> 00:13:55.850
  • You're not afraid that the darkness has gotten so intense.
  • 00:13:55.850 --> 00:13:59.754
  • You understand intuitively the light's not working.
  • 00:13:59.754 --> 00:14:02.724
  • But when you look at our world and what's happening and the
  • 00:14:02.724 --> 00:14:05.493
  • Things that are unfolding and the ideas that are flourishing
  • 00:14:05.493 --> 00:14:08.129
  • And being celebrated, i hope you have the spiritual discernment
  • 00:14:08.129 --> 00:14:11.466
  • To go, "we gotta turn up the light."
  • 00:14:11.466 --> 00:14:16.604
  • Don't rage against the darkness, don't be angry,
  • 00:14:16.604 --> 00:14:19.807
  • You don't have to be belligerent, you certainly don't
  • 00:14:19.807 --> 00:14:21.142
  • Have to be violent, but we gotta turn up the light.
  • 00:14:21.142 --> 00:14:25.780
  • Allen: hey, "lessons from paul" is a 90-day devotional, some of
  • 00:14:30.018 --> 00:14:33.354
  • My favorite verses that paul wrote, a bit of devotional time,
  • 00:14:33.354 --> 00:14:37.892
  • And then some place to journal.
  • 00:14:37.892 --> 00:14:39.894
  • The goal is to be changed.
  • 00:14:39.894 --> 00:14:41.262
  • We wanna be transformed by the word of god and not just
  • 00:14:41.262 --> 00:14:43.464
  • Informed by it.
  • 00:14:43.464 --> 00:14:45.133
  • Saul of tarsus, a hero of mine, i got to know him as the apostle
  • 00:14:45.133 --> 00:14:47.902
  • Paul, an unrelenting advocate for jesus in the face of
  • 00:14:47.902 --> 00:14:51.472
  • Unyielding persecution.
  • 00:14:51.472 --> 00:14:53.508
  • Folks, that sounds like the world we live in.
  • 00:14:53.508 --> 00:14:55.543
  • Lessons from paul, it'll help you and i be overcomers,
  • 00:14:55.543 --> 00:14:58.146
  • Triumphant in this season in the earth.
  • 00:14:58.146 --> 00:15:00.682
  • You'll enjoy the book.
  • 00:15:00.682 --> 00:15:02.083
  • Female announcer: following jesus isn't always easy, but you
  • 00:15:02.083 --> 00:15:04.786
  • Don't have to walk through it alone.
  • 00:15:04.786 --> 00:15:06.788
  • The same power that transformed paul is available to you today.
  • 00:15:06.788 --> 00:15:11.526
  • "lessons from paul" by pastor allen is a 90-day devotional
  • 00:15:11.526 --> 00:15:15.063
  • Filled with scripture, encouragement, and journaling
  • 00:15:15.063 --> 00:15:18.232
  • Prompts and space to write, helping you apply each day's
  • 00:15:18.232 --> 00:15:21.836
  • Reading to your actual life.
  • 00:15:21.836 --> 00:15:24.339
  • Request your copy with your gift of $25 or more at
  • 00:15:24.339 --> 00:15:28.309
  • Allenjackson.com or call ...
  • 00:15:28.309 --> 00:15:33.348
  • Allen: in matthew 13, jesus told a parable about wheat and tares,
  • 00:15:34.749 --> 00:15:39.754
  • A field that was planted, and when the crop came up, not
  • 00:15:39.754 --> 00:15:44.926
  • Everything growing in the field was what was intended.
  • 00:15:44.926 --> 00:15:47.228
  • The wheat was there, but there were thistles, weeds amongst
  • 00:15:47.228 --> 00:15:50.531
  • The wheat.
  • 00:15:50.531 --> 00:15:51.966
  • And the servants were unhappy, as was the owner of
  • 00:15:51.966 --> 00:15:55.136
  • The property.
  • 00:15:55.136 --> 00:15:56.504
  • And the servants said, "well, let us go up and pull up--let us
  • 00:15:56.504 --> 00:15:58.706
  • Go out and pull up the weeds."
  • 00:15:58.706 --> 00:16:00.074
  • And the master said, "no."
  • 00:16:00.074 --> 00:16:01.976
  • And then when they're alone, the disciples go, "we
  • 00:16:01.976 --> 00:16:03.745
  • Don't understand.
  • 00:16:03.745 --> 00:16:06.781
  • I know you're the lord, but we don't understand."
  • 00:16:06.781 --> 00:16:10.385
  • Jesus had the slow group.
  • 00:16:10.385 --> 00:16:13.354
  • That's how i got in.
  • 00:16:13.354 --> 00:16:16.524
  • So jesus said, let me explain.
  • 00:16:16.524 --> 00:16:18.059
  • When they were in private, he said, "i'll explain the parable
  • 00:16:18.059 --> 00:16:20.228
  • To you," and i put a bit of that in your notes.
  • 00:16:20.228 --> 00:16:22.397
  • The son of man, he said the field is the world and the
  • 00:16:22.397 --> 00:16:25.867
  • Harvest is the end of the age.
  • 00:16:25.867 --> 00:16:28.136
  • So jesus believed there's an end to this present age.
  • 00:16:28.136 --> 00:16:30.371
  • That's very important to understand.
  • 00:16:30.371 --> 00:16:31.706
  • It's not just preacher's idea.
  • 00:16:31.706 --> 00:16:33.708
  • We're not trying to frighten you into something.
  • 00:16:33.708 --> 00:16:35.276
  • I don't believe you should think of the end of the age with fear.
  • 00:16:35.276 --> 00:16:38.379
  • I think you should look at the end of the age as a season of
  • 00:16:38.379 --> 00:16:40.415
  • Tremendous opportunity, unparalleled opportunity,
  • 00:16:40.415 --> 00:16:43.317
  • Unprecedented opportunity.
  • 00:16:43.317 --> 00:16:44.786
  • The greatest honor of your life would be to include it in
  • 00:16:44.786 --> 00:16:47.155
  • This season.
  • 00:16:47.155 --> 00:16:49.057
  • I didn't get called to be on the shores of galilee in the first
  • 00:16:49.057 --> 00:16:52.293
  • Century when jesus was recruiting.
  • 00:16:52.293 --> 00:16:53.928
  • I was left out of that.
  • 00:16:53.928 --> 00:16:56.197
  • I didn't get called to be riding with paul revere through the
  • 00:16:56.197 --> 00:16:59.500
  • Streets of boston when they said the british were coming.
  • 00:16:59.500 --> 00:17:03.304
  • I got placed in murfreesboro.
  • 00:17:03.304 --> 00:17:08.042
  • I'm all up with that.
  • 00:17:08.042 --> 00:17:10.445
  • But it's the end of the age when there'll be intense darkness and
  • 00:17:10.445 --> 00:17:13.681
  • The light's gonna shine into the darkness.
  • 00:17:13.681 --> 00:17:16.617
  • So it's an important day. don't be afraid of this.
  • 00:17:16.617 --> 00:17:19.187
  • "the son of the man--son of man will send forth his angels, and
  • 00:17:19.187 --> 00:17:22.590
  • They, the angels will gather out of his kingdom all stumbling
  • 00:17:22.590 --> 00:17:26.494
  • Blocks, and those who commit lawlessness, and will throw them
  • 00:17:26.494 --> 00:17:29.864
  • Into the furnace of fire; and in that place there'll be
  • 00:17:29.864 --> 00:17:32.600
  • Weeping and gnashing of teeth."
  • 00:17:32.600 --> 00:17:33.935
  • Remember that phrase?
  • 00:17:33.935 --> 00:17:35.269
  • We've talked about it several times.
  • 00:17:35.269 --> 00:17:37.004
  • It's used consistently in the new testament, often by jesus.
  • 00:17:37.004 --> 00:17:41.175
  • The way i understand it for the gnashing of teeth, it's for
  • 00:17:41.175 --> 00:17:43.644
  • People who were--they stood amongst the people of god.
  • 00:17:43.644 --> 00:17:47.248
  • They stood with great opportunities and invitations
  • 00:17:47.248 --> 00:17:50.318
  • And, but they never took them seriously enough to engage, they
  • 00:17:50.318 --> 00:17:54.055
  • Just presumed that the opportunity would always be
  • 00:17:54.055 --> 00:17:56.090
  • There, so there was very little adjustment or alignment, and
  • 00:17:56.090 --> 00:18:00.161
  • Until the opportunity failed-- you know, the grace of god is
  • 00:18:00.161 --> 00:18:02.730
  • Not infinite, it has an end.
  • 00:18:02.730 --> 00:18:05.600
  • If it was infinite, there would never be any judgment, there
  • 00:18:05.600 --> 00:18:07.702
  • Would never be any consequence.
  • 00:18:07.702 --> 00:18:09.070
  • It would be infinite.
  • 00:18:09.070 --> 00:18:10.404
  • But the grace of god is not infinite.
  • 00:18:10.404 --> 00:18:12.206
  • And when those individuals realize that they have lost
  • 00:18:12.206 --> 00:18:14.542
  • Their opportunity and it has been removed from them, the
  • 00:18:14.542 --> 00:18:18.312
  • Story of those waiting for the arrival of the bridegroom and
  • 00:18:18.312 --> 00:18:20.615
  • The door was closed.
  • 00:18:20.615 --> 00:18:22.550
  • Noah's ark when the door was closed.
  • 00:18:22.550 --> 00:18:25.586
  • At that point, it's often described as if there is a
  • 00:18:25.586 --> 00:18:28.256
  • Weeping and gnashing of teeth.
  • 00:18:28.256 --> 00:18:30.191
  • There is such enormous emotion at the recognition of the
  • 00:18:30.191 --> 00:18:34.629
  • Opportunity forfeited, that there is tremendous
  • 00:18:34.629 --> 00:18:37.365
  • Physical angst.
  • 00:18:37.365 --> 00:18:38.733
  • "there'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
  • 00:18:38.733 --> 00:18:40.902
  • Then the righteous will shine forth as the sun in the kingdom
  • 00:18:40.902 --> 00:18:43.704
  • Of their father.
  • 00:18:43.704 --> 00:18:45.039
  • He who has ears, let him hear."
  • 00:18:45.039 --> 00:18:46.574
  • I think this is descriptive of the season that we're
  • 00:18:46.574 --> 00:18:48.809
  • Talking about.
  • 00:18:48.809 --> 00:18:50.444
  • It's a field with both wheat and tares, the world.
  • 00:18:50.444 --> 00:18:53.915
  • There's both the intended crop, the good thing, and the
  • 00:18:53.915 --> 00:18:56.617
  • Unwanted, the weeds.
  • 00:18:56.617 --> 00:18:58.686
  • And jesus said, "don't pull up the weeds, let them stay till
  • 00:18:58.686 --> 00:19:00.988
  • The end of the age.
  • 00:19:00.988 --> 00:19:02.356
  • It would be disruptive to everybody if you pulled them
  • 00:19:02.356 --> 00:19:04.525
  • Up," so there has to be awareness of that.
  • 00:19:04.525 --> 00:19:07.395
  • It's important.
  • 00:19:07.395 --> 00:19:08.763
  • Jesus said, "the harvest is the end of the age,"
  • 00:19:08.763 --> 00:19:10.264
  • His words, not mine.
  • 00:19:10.264 --> 00:19:11.599
  • He said, "the angels are the harvesters."
  • 00:19:11.599 --> 00:19:13.568
  • I hope you know the angels are amongst us.
  • 00:19:13.568 --> 00:19:17.905
  • You know, we still--we'd rather have a seminar on whether
  • 00:19:17.905 --> 00:19:20.708
  • Spiritual things are real than begin to live as if they were.
  • 00:19:20.708 --> 00:19:24.946
  • But right up to the end of the age, both are going to
  • 00:19:24.946 --> 00:19:27.748
  • Grow together.
  • 00:19:27.748 --> 00:19:29.083
  • The same climate conditions that let the wheat
  • 00:19:29.083 --> 00:19:31.385
  • Ripen lets the weeds ripen.
  • 00:19:31.385 --> 00:19:32.720
  • It's springtime in tennessee. everything's growing.
  • 00:19:32.720 --> 00:19:34.555
  • You can almost hear it growing.
  • 00:19:34.555 --> 00:19:37.158
  • If you stand still, you can almost watch it growing.
  • 00:19:37.158 --> 00:19:40.294
  • And some of you are busy planting flowers and gardens and
  • 00:19:40.294 --> 00:19:43.164
  • The things you want to grow.
  • 00:19:43.164 --> 00:19:44.765
  • I hope some of you are planting tomatoes.
  • 00:19:44.765 --> 00:19:46.367
  • My name's allen.
  • 00:19:46.367 --> 00:19:50.404
  • I love the summer vegetables in tennessee, but you know, while
  • 00:19:50.404 --> 00:19:53.007
  • The green beans are growing and the new potatoes are growing,
  • 00:19:53.007 --> 00:19:56.043
  • You know, so is the johnson grass and the weeds and the
  • 00:19:56.043 --> 00:19:58.546
  • Dandelions and all the stuff you didn't plant.
  • 00:19:58.546 --> 00:20:01.849
  • We shouldn't be shocked.
  • 00:20:01.849 --> 00:20:03.184
  • Jesus is using something that we're very familiar with, and
  • 00:20:03.184 --> 00:20:05.853
  • He's saying it's the presentation of what will happen
  • 00:20:05.853 --> 00:20:08.322
  • At the end of the age.
  • 00:20:08.322 --> 00:20:09.724
  • I think what we read past and is a bit more
  • 00:20:09.724 --> 00:20:11.659
  • Unsettling is the way i read it.
  • 00:20:11.659 --> 00:20:13.461
  • This is not a discussion of the pagan world.
  • 00:20:13.461 --> 00:20:16.864
  • He's not talking about the ungodly.
  • 00:20:16.864 --> 00:20:20.401
  • He's not talking about us and them in that classic sense.
  • 00:20:20.401 --> 00:20:25.906
  • He's speaking of god's people.
  • 00:20:25.906 --> 00:20:28.843
  • They're all in the same field, they've all been planted with
  • 00:20:28.843 --> 00:20:31.178
  • The same intent, they all have the same authority over them.
  • 00:20:31.178 --> 00:20:35.316
  • What's the difference in wheat and thistles other than a
  • 00:20:35.316 --> 00:20:40.354
  • Purple flower?
  • 00:20:40.354 --> 00:20:41.722
  • It's the fruit.
  • 00:20:41.722 --> 00:20:43.157
  • That's how you know the difference.
  • 00:20:43.157 --> 00:20:46.594
  • See, i don't believe the church will be fully purified until the
  • 00:20:46.594 --> 00:20:49.597
  • End of the age.
  • 00:20:49.597 --> 00:20:52.566
  • That shouldn't be surprising to you.
  • 00:20:52.566 --> 00:20:54.168
  • Our experience right now suggests that.
  • 00:20:54.168 --> 00:20:56.504
  • We're seeing the greatest apostasy, the greatest of
  • 00:20:56.504 --> 00:20:59.073
  • Falling away of biblical truth inside organized christianity at
  • 00:20:59.073 --> 00:21:04.111
  • Any time in my lifetime.
  • 00:21:04.111 --> 00:21:06.681
  • There have been other periods, but in my lifetime, i can speak
  • 00:21:06.681 --> 00:21:09.550
  • With some authority.
  • 00:21:09.550 --> 00:21:11.519
  • Churches that for decade upon decade upon decade have been
  • 00:21:11.519 --> 00:21:14.855
  • Bastions of biblical authority.
  • 00:21:14.855 --> 00:21:17.591
  • We may quibble over secondary and tertiary things about how
  • 00:21:17.591 --> 00:21:20.695
  • Frequently we take communion or at what age you should be
  • 00:21:20.695 --> 00:21:23.864
  • Baptized or the formula for baptism, but the fundamental
  • 00:21:23.864 --> 00:21:27.368
  • Principles of scripture have been largely adhered to across a
  • 00:21:27.368 --> 00:21:30.638
  • Broad stretch, at least in american christendom for decade
  • 00:21:30.638 --> 00:21:34.408
  • Upon decade upon decade.
  • 00:21:34.408 --> 00:21:36.310
  • And in recent years, those have been cast aside.
  • 00:21:36.310 --> 00:21:40.314
  • They've been so--we've redefined marriage in the churches.
  • 00:21:40.314 --> 00:21:46.687
  • Well, god didn't, he didn't change his definitions.
  • 00:21:46.687 --> 00:21:50.791
  • So--and i could give you a link you know the list.
  • 00:21:50.791 --> 00:21:53.160
  • You don't need me to walk you through it, but we do have to
  • 00:21:53.160 --> 00:21:55.830
  • Stop and say, "oh, that's happening, that's not church."
  • 00:21:55.830 --> 00:22:00.735
  • It doesn't matter what the sign says or if the building is
  • 00:22:00.735 --> 00:22:03.003
  • Ecclesiastical or the people convening use religious language
  • 00:22:03.003 --> 00:22:06.607
  • Or wear clerical garb.
  • 00:22:06.607 --> 00:22:09.143
  • See what defines us as the church is our yielding to the
  • 00:22:09.143 --> 00:22:12.980
  • Authority and the lordship of jesus of nazareth.
  • 00:22:12.980 --> 00:22:17.952
  • We don't have a designer faith.
  • 00:22:17.952 --> 00:22:21.021
  • You know, when we worship and the musical style we worship and
  • 00:22:21.021 --> 00:22:24.024
  • The translation of the bible, the things that we fight about
  • 00:22:24.024 --> 00:22:26.560
  • And bicker about, they're secondary, they're
  • 00:22:26.560 --> 00:22:28.896
  • Tertiary things.
  • 00:22:28.896 --> 00:22:31.365
  • But who jesus is, what he accomplished with his redemptive
  • 00:22:31.365 --> 00:22:34.301
  • Work, the authority of his word, who sets the agenda for our
  • 00:22:34.301 --> 00:22:37.805
  • Lives, who defines what's sexually moral and what's
  • 00:22:37.805 --> 00:22:40.674
  • Immoral.
  • 00:22:40.674 --> 00:22:42.009
  • Not the government.
  • 00:22:42.009 --> 00:22:46.814
  • You know, we lived under that deception for so long.
  • 00:22:46.814 --> 00:22:49.417
  • For decades, we said, "well, you know, abortion is the law of
  • 00:22:49.417 --> 00:22:51.919
  • The land."
  • 00:22:51.919 --> 00:22:53.287
  • Well, it didn't make it god's law.
  • 00:22:53.287 --> 00:22:55.689
  • And then the laws changed and abortion rates have continued to
  • 00:22:55.689 --> 00:22:58.259
  • Grow because we haven't had a heart change.
  • 00:22:58.259 --> 00:23:01.462
  • Well, we don't like to talk about that, but we should.
  • 00:23:01.462 --> 00:23:05.366
  • So what jesus described is what we're watching unfold, these
  • 00:23:05.366 --> 00:23:08.903
  • Fields amongst us, it's going to require more discernment of us,
  • 00:23:08.903 --> 00:23:12.239
  • We're gonna have to look for fruit.
  • 00:23:12.239 --> 00:23:15.176
  • I mean, the question these days, i answer a lot is, you know, my
  • 00:23:15.176 --> 00:23:18.379
  • Concern about the church being too large.
  • 00:23:18.379 --> 00:23:21.649
  • Well, i was here when there were 30 people.
  • 00:23:21.649 --> 00:23:24.285
  • They had other concerns about us then, they thought we were
  • 00:23:24.285 --> 00:23:26.187
  • Too crazy.
  • 00:23:26.187 --> 00:23:29.623
  • I mean, there have been questions all along the journey.
  • 00:23:29.623 --> 00:23:31.892
  • That just happens to be the question du jour.
  • 00:23:31.892 --> 00:23:34.328
  • And i'm like, no, to be honest, i'm a little embarrassed.
  • 00:23:34.328 --> 00:23:37.832
  • Have you noticed what's happened in middle tennessee?
  • 00:23:37.832 --> 00:23:39.633
  • Have you been on the roads lately?
  • 00:23:39.633 --> 00:23:42.069
  • I remember when traffic was something that atlanta had.
  • 00:23:42.069 --> 00:23:47.641
  • We would warn people if they were driving through atlanta,
  • 00:23:47.641 --> 00:23:50.144
  • "oh, you should time your journey.
  • 00:23:50.144 --> 00:23:52.112
  • They have traffic."
  • 00:23:52.112 --> 00:23:56.150
  • Now we have traffic in eagleville.
  • 00:23:56.150 --> 00:24:02.423
  • And if you don't know--if you don't live here, you don't know
  • 00:24:02.423 --> 00:24:04.425
  • What i'm--eagleville is just is barely beyond the cow path, and
  • 00:24:04.425 --> 00:24:08.195
  • Now they have traffic.
  • 00:24:08.195 --> 00:24:12.967
  • Our community, it hasn't just changed,
  • 00:24:12.967 --> 00:24:15.936
  • There's been a total transformation into a different
  • 00:24:15.936 --> 00:24:19.540
  • Kind of place.
  • 00:24:19.540 --> 00:24:24.712
  • And the churches.
  • 00:24:24.712 --> 00:24:26.046
  • I was downtown nashville this past week for an event.
  • 00:24:26.046 --> 00:24:29.149
  • You know, i'm down there, usually i'm hurrying and i was
  • 00:24:29.149 --> 00:24:31.318
  • Down there and it wasn't dark yet, and i had to walk a couple
  • 00:24:31.318 --> 00:24:34.021
  • Of blocks, and every block i walked, there was a beautiful
  • 00:24:34.021 --> 00:24:37.691
  • Old church.
  • 00:24:37.691 --> 00:24:39.727
  • Now they're surrounded by tall buildings and offices and a lot
  • 00:24:39.727 --> 00:24:44.598
  • Of glass, but these churches were beautiful.
  • 00:24:44.598 --> 00:24:47.601
  • At the time they were built, they were the largest, most
  • 00:24:47.601 --> 00:24:49.503
  • Beautiful buildings in the area.
  • 00:24:49.503 --> 00:24:52.373
  • And they were built and the construction, the quality of
  • 00:24:52.373 --> 00:24:54.708
  • Construction we couldn't duplicate today
  • 00:24:54.708 --> 00:24:57.311
  • Or we wouldn't be willing to.
  • 00:24:57.311 --> 00:24:58.646
  • It was very clear that there was a time and place where the most
  • 00:24:58.646 --> 00:25:01.582
  • Elaborate, the largest buildings downtown in nashville
  • 00:25:01.582 --> 00:25:04.818
  • Were churches.
  • 00:25:04.818 --> 00:25:07.087
  • The ryman auditorium, some of you know
  • 00:25:07.087 --> 00:25:08.989
  • The mother church of country music.
  • 00:25:08.989 --> 00:25:10.324
  • You know why it's called that?
  • 00:25:10.324 --> 00:25:11.659
  • Because it began as a gospel tabernacle.
  • 00:25:11.659 --> 00:25:15.596
  • The man that organized the construction of that had been a
  • 00:25:15.596 --> 00:25:19.466
  • Good sinner and he got a good salvation,
  • 00:25:19.466 --> 00:25:24.939
  • And he closed his bars.
  • 00:25:24.939 --> 00:25:26.273
  • He had a big bar on the waterfront.
  • 00:25:26.273 --> 00:25:27.608
  • He turned his bar into a place for the christians to meet and
  • 00:25:27.608 --> 00:25:30.344
  • They outgrew it, so he went to work to build a bigger
  • 00:25:30.344 --> 00:25:32.580
  • Tabernacle downtown.
  • 00:25:32.580 --> 00:25:35.616
  • They named it after captain ryman when he died.
  • 00:25:35.616 --> 00:25:39.853
  • We've lost that imagination.
  • 00:25:39.853 --> 00:25:42.423
  • We've got to recognize what's happening around us.
  • 00:25:42.423 --> 00:25:44.792
  • We're like the frog in the kettle.
  • 00:25:44.792 --> 00:25:47.861
  • You can sit in a church all day long or a building where the
  • 00:25:47.861 --> 00:25:50.097
  • Sign says church, it doesn't make you a christian.
  • 00:25:50.097 --> 00:25:51.832
  • It's like, you know, i may watch a
  • 00:25:51.832 --> 00:25:55.169
  • Little bit of the golf tournament this afternoon.
  • 00:25:55.169 --> 00:25:56.503
  • It will not make me a golfer.
  • 00:25:56.503 --> 00:26:00.374
  • And you understand that.
  • 00:26:00.374 --> 00:26:01.842
  • We're gonna have to have more discernment.
  • 00:26:01.842 --> 00:26:05.012
  • Jesus told us the purification of the church won't take place
  • 00:26:05.012 --> 00:26:08.282
  • Until the very end of the age.
  • 00:26:08.282 --> 00:26:12.686
  • Don't wait.
  • 00:26:12.686 --> 00:26:14.254
  • Live the truth that you know.
  • 00:26:14.254 --> 00:26:18.192
  • Allen: you know, i don't believe the primary objective in reading
  • 00:26:22.429 --> 00:26:25.466
  • Our bible or even the pursuit of our faith is informational.
  • 00:26:25.466 --> 00:26:28.936
  • I like to learn, but i believe the ultimate objective
  • 00:26:28.936 --> 00:26:31.305
  • Is transformation.
  • 00:26:31.305 --> 00:26:33.173
  • We've got a tool, i think it'll help.
  • 00:26:33.173 --> 00:26:34.608
  • It's called "lessons from paul."
  • 00:26:34.608 --> 00:26:36.343
  • The apostle paul is one of my heroes.
  • 00:26:36.343 --> 00:26:38.379
  • In the face of unyielding persecution and opposition, some
  • 00:26:38.379 --> 00:26:41.815
  • Tremendous physical suffering, just awful things, multiple
  • 00:26:41.815 --> 00:26:45.819
  • Assassination attempts, he remains unflinching in his
  • 00:26:45.819 --> 00:26:49.723
  • Advocacy for jesus of nazareth.
  • 00:26:49.723 --> 00:26:51.625
  • He knows the power of god, says god did extraordinary miracles
  • 00:26:51.625 --> 00:26:55.029
  • Through paul.
  • 00:26:55.029 --> 00:26:56.397
  • Well, i wanna learn those lessons.
  • 00:26:56.397 --> 00:26:57.731
  • I wanna be transformed by them so i can stand in this season
  • 00:26:57.731 --> 00:27:00.901
  • For the purposes of god in my life.
  • 00:27:00.901 --> 00:27:02.469
  • So we put together this devotional, it's 90 days, some
  • 00:27:02.469 --> 00:27:05.339
  • Portions from paul that are favorites of mine, some
  • 00:27:05.339 --> 00:27:08.142
  • Journaling space, some prayers.
  • 00:27:08.142 --> 00:27:09.743
  • It'll help us be changed.
  • 00:27:09.743 --> 00:27:11.612
  • I wanna pray for you that these 90 days will be transformational
  • 00:27:11.612 --> 00:27:14.648
  • In your life.
  • 00:27:14.648 --> 00:27:16.016
  • Father, help us not just be hearers but to be doers of
  • 00:27:16.016 --> 00:27:18.218
  • Your word.
  • 00:27:18.218 --> 00:27:19.553
  • May the spirit of god bring transformation to each of us.
  • 00:27:19.553 --> 00:27:22.156
  • In jesus's name, amen.
  • 00:27:22.156 --> 00:27:24.191
  • ♪♪♪
  • 00:27:25.259 --> 00:27:29.730