Allen Jackson Ministries

Allen Jackson - Satanic Responses (Part 1)

October 23, 2025 | 28:35

Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.

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Allen Jackson Ministries | Allen Jackson - Satanic Responses (Part 1) | October 23, 2025

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♪♪♪
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Allen jackson: you know, we're witnessing something of a crisis
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In our nation, something i never thought i would see: expressions
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Of antisemitism, hatred for the jewish people, coming from
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America, coming from the christian community, the
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Conservative side of the ideological spectrum,
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To a degree and scope i've never seen before.
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Well, it was important enough that i stopped and put together
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A book.
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The title of it is "supporting israel: how far is too far?"
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It's an important concept that isn't political.
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It's grounded in a biblical worldview.
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I think we need to understand our responsibilities to the
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Jewish people, to the modern-day state of israel, not from
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An ideological perspective, not from the perspective of nation
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States, but as people of god.
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It's important.
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It's an important season, a lot of voices.
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And i know there's some fatigue with the conflict in the middle
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East, but we can't afford to be fatigued with our assignments to
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Honor god and the responsibilities that come
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With that.
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I believe the book will be a help to you.
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I believe it'll help you navigate the conversation with
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Your family and your friends.
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Enjoy the read.
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♪♪♪
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Allen: we're working through a study under the title of
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"shaping culture," and this session is very much
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A continuation of what we did in the previous two sessions.
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So if you've missed those, it would be worthwhile to go back
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And listen.
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It's all been taken from our reading from last week when we
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Were working our way through 2 chronicles, the end of
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2 chronicles.
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In this particular session, i wanna talk not only about
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Shaping culture but satan's responses to that.
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You know, in the garden, in the opening chapters of the bible,
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Satan challenges god's purposes.
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He tries to disrupt them.
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He's still doing that.
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That pattern hasn't changed.
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He hasn't been discouraged in his agenda.
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He's just as persistent.
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He's still using the same tools, he's still questioning, you
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Know, he'll question in our hearts if we--if god can be
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Trusted, if his word can be trusted.
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But i believe we have an assignment to shape the culture
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In which we live, not to be shaped by it.
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That is not universally embraced.
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I was at a pastors' conference.
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It was some years ago.
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It was a gathering of pastors from larger churches, and they
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Put us into some groups, and i was in a group of about a dozen
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People and i don't remember the question we were asked, but i
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Said, "well, the church is the conscience of the culture," and
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10 of the 11 said no.
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And we spent a couple hours unpacking that and then the real
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Essence of it is they said, "we don't wanna do that."
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And i get that, but we're not, you know, we're called to be
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Ambassadors, not if we want to be.
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The assignment we're given biblically is to help people be
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Reconciled to god.
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Which means we have to take the truth of god and engage culture
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With it.
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And the failure to do that is a failure to receive fully what
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Jesus has given to us.
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I don't understand that to be optional.
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I'm a bit perplexed.
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I was with a group of pastors this week, and to be candid,
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I felt like several of them were more interested in being friends
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With the world than holding out the truth to it.
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And we're gonna have to change our pattern.
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I'm embarrassed, to be honest, that there's often more truth
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Told these days from people who have secular offices than people
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Who hold positions of authority in the church.
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Religious studies departments in universities, our local ones
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Included, typically do everything but encourage people
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To believe the bible to be the authoritative word of god.
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That's a travesty.
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Technically, that's apostasy.
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And it does, if you don't know, biblically, it brings the
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Judgment of god.
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So this notion of shaping culture, i don't understand it
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To be really an optional thing, but i think sometimes we
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Struggle with understanding what that means.
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So i want to use this narrative from 2 chronicles.
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We were looking at king hezekiah.
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I can't do a complete recapitulation, but i'll give
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You the short version.
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He became king when he was 25.
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And israel had fallen into a period of stepping far, far away
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From god.
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When he became king, the temple was closed, it was shuttered.
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It was in such disrepair the doors didn't work.
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It was filled with filth.
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And in the first month of his ascension to the throne,
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Hezekiah said--he sent orders to repair the doors of the
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Temple, to open the temple, and he got the priests together and
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He said, "you clean it out."
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It took 16 days.
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It was so filthy, it took 16 days to get the idols and the
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Filth out of the temple.
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Then he gathered the priests together and he said, "now you
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Consecrate yourselves," which means to set yourself apart from
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The purposes of god.
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You're reading that and you're thinking, "well, don't the
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Priests know they're supposed to consecrate themselves?"
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And the answer is no, apparently not.
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They had made friends with all sorts of other things.
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And he said, "you consecrate yourselves," and then he said to
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The larger group of the community, he said, "now you've
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Got to consecrate yourselves."
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And then he sent messengers throughout the whole nation,
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Both to judah and to israel, two nations.
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The northern kingdom had already been conquered by the assyrians,
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Humiliated publicly, suffered tremendously, but he sent
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Messengers through the whole nation and said we're going to
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Celebrate the passover.
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Come to jerusalem.
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And they said they hadn't celebrated that way in decades
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And decades and decades.
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And so hezekiah was shaping culture.
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And he's shaping culture in the midst of the covenant people
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Of god.
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You see, we're gonna have to gain a new kind of courage.
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I think we're a bit embarrassed to say to people that we think
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Are christians, "you're not acting like christians."
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Well, who made you so judgy?
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It's not about being judgy, it's about submitting ourselves to
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The truth of god's word.
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Some things aren't open for our interpretation.
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The sovereignty of god puts some boundaries in place for us.
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We don't get to decide what's moral and immoral.
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God gave us those boundaries and we either comply or
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We're disobedient.
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God defined marriage.
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The bible says god created us, male and female.
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God said we're to lead generous lives.
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So there's a whole unfolding of things that aren't up to us, but
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The assignment we have is to take that truth into the world
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Because it will make our lives better, our homes better,
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Our families better.
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It will give the best possible future for our children.
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And hezekiah is modeling that.
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In 2 chronicles 31, i'm back to your notes.
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Here we go. listen fast.
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Somebody came by the office just to taunt me.
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They said, "do you have an outline for tonight?"
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And i said, "yeah," and they said, "you're not gonna finish
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It, are you?"
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Watch this.
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"when all this had ended, the israelites who were there,"
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This--they'd come to jerusalem to worship.
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And most of the people mocked.
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Most of the people didn't make the trip to jerusalem.
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That's a part of the narrative.
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It's not something--it's not my opinion.
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If you're looking to be in the majority, you won't, you--that
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Won't be the group who follows the lord.
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Jesus said, "narrow is the gate, and few that enter in, and wide
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Is the gate that leads to destruction and many enter in."
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You're gonna have to have the courage to be in
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A minority position.
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"when all of this had ended, the israelites who were there went
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Out to the towns of judah.
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They smashed the sacred stones and they cut down the asherah
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Poles, and they destroyed the high places and the altars
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Throughout judah and benjamin and ephraim and manasseh.
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After they'd destroyed all of them, the israelites returned to
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Their own towns and to their own property."
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For clarity, i'm not encouraging violence.
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But i am highlighting that their worship included an entirely new
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Set of behaviors.
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These were places where their idolatry had been practiced,
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Where their investment of their time and their energy and their
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Resources, and they weren't just places of worship.
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It wasn't just like a a gathering for a small group or
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A church service.
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Those canaanite fertility gods had accompanied into their
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Practices of worship all sorts of sexual immorality.
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So they were places of pleasure, places of recreation.
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There were places where they imagined it would bring
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Prosperity to you.
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If we're looking for modern examples, we would think of--i
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Think of all the ways that gambling and it's prevalence
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Amongst us.
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It's hard, you can't watch a ballgame any longer without
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Gambling being a part of the programming.
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And our fantasy sports are not so fantasy anymore.
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They occupy enormous chunks of our time.
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And we imagine we've become aficionados and there's
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Typically wagering and all sorts of competition involved in that.
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You see, worship becomes whatever takes the place of
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Priority of your time and your energy and your resources
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Before god.
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And they left this time of worship and the encouragement
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From hezekiah and the people that have joined him, and they
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Leave and they say, "we're gonna dismantle this infrastructure.
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We're gonna take apart these things where we have spent our
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Lives foolishly in an ungodly way.
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We're gonna chart a new course," and i think renewal and
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Awakening brings that.
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It brings a change of behaviors, not just an engagement in
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A church service, but a new way to live, a new way to behave.
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It's a very important principle.
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And i suggested in the previous session that one of the things
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That we can do is give back in our lives a place that
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Is biblical.
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The bible says--tells us to practice hospitality.
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And we've almost lost that notion.
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Our lives are so busy and our family's time is so committed to
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The activities that we have raised our hands for.
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In the light lobby, our whole building is turned into
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A storyboard.
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It's not just random stuff.
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In the light lobby there's two big panels, one about corrie ten
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Boom and one about some crazy people from tennessee.
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The thing they share in common is hospitality.
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They opened their homes for the purposes of god and god brought
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A fruitfulness far beyond the imagination that they had when
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They opened their homes.
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And i suggested to you that we have to return to the
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Kitchen table.
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And i asked you to consider making a commitment to having
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A meal once a week as a family at a kitchen table.
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No devices, just your family.
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I understand that's an intrusion.
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I understand our lives are busy.
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I understand for most of us it will require a change
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Of calendar.
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You'll have to address priorities in a new way.
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I don't agree with the notion that whoever the coach of the
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Month is for whichever of your children is involved in the
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Sport at this season, should have more authority in your home
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Than god.
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But i would submit to you, i've said it to you hundreds and
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Hundreds of times in recent months, is that if we're gonna
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Transform our culture, it begins at our kitchen table, it extends
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To our holiday table, and then it will extend into those--that
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Circle of friends and influence that we have.
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And one way to give just a simple expression to this is
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Taking one meal a week together as a family on purpose.
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I think it's more important than any ballgame.
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I think it's more important than another social event.
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I think it's more important than just about anything you else can
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Put on the list.
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There's a purpose to it.
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I would submit to you, it's a wellness check.
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It's an opportunity to sit down.
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"how have you been since we sat together last?
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What have you celebrated?
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What have you cried about?"
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It's a way to acknowledge god's blessings and faithfulness.
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It's a way if you still have children at home, it's a way for
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You to give a demonstration of your commitment to god.
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It's far more powerful than a lesson.
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You might even do something crazy like begin the meal with
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A prayer.
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You might even collect things as you have the meal together, that
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You wanna pray for before you leave so that you've invited god
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Into what's ahead of you in the days ahead.
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It's a wonderful opportunity for some fundamental learning about
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How to sit at a table, how to be a part of a family.
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How to learn to eat things you don't normally eat, things you
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Can't get through a fast food window.
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It helps prepare the children in the family for how to go into
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The world with a different kind of confidence.
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There's a whole host of very important skills that come and
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It strengthens our families.
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Many of the problems that we're facing as a society come not
00:12:24.459 --> 00:12:29.264
From the deterioration, from the collapse of our families.
00:12:29.264 --> 00:12:33.668
I had a conversation today and they said that the, oh, fiddle--
00:12:33.668 --> 00:12:44.078
In shelby county, the truancy, there's a 50% truancy rate in
00:12:44.145 --> 00:12:48.082
The schools.
00:12:48.082 --> 00:12:51.452
When you have that kind of impact on a community, it's
00:12:51.452 --> 00:12:56.024
A reflection that our families are struggling.
00:12:56.024 --> 00:13:00.028
Open your home, open your table.
00:13:00.028 --> 00:13:02.230
Invite god into the midst of a group of people.
00:13:02.230 --> 00:13:05.166
And watch the fruit that god will bring from that.
00:13:05.166 --> 00:13:08.937
You know, we've learned, let's pray, we've done let's read.
00:13:08.937 --> 00:13:13.074
Now we're gonna do let's eat.
00:13:13.074 --> 00:13:17.912
I think there's a sequel.
00:13:17.912 --> 00:13:19.247
Let's dessert, but let's go ahead and let's start with let's
00:13:19.247 --> 00:13:21.049
Eat, okay?
00:13:21.049 --> 00:13:24.886
Allen: now, how should we respond to the nation of israel
00:13:29.023 --> 00:13:31.559
And the jewish people?
00:13:31.559 --> 00:13:32.927
It's a complex question in today's world.
00:13:32.927 --> 00:13:35.363
Well, i've written a book, "supporting israel: how far is
00:13:35.363 --> 00:13:38.132
Too far?"
00:13:38.132 --> 00:13:39.500
To help us establish a biblical perspective on what has become
00:13:39.500 --> 00:13:43.371
A complex question in contemporary culture.
00:13:43.371 --> 00:13:46.374
We don't wanna follow the guidance and the counsel of some
00:13:46.374 --> 00:13:49.244
Of the elite universities in this nation.
00:13:49.244 --> 00:13:51.913
We wanna form a perspective that's built from god's word.
00:13:51.913 --> 00:13:54.482
If we'll do that, it'll bring his blessings to our lives.
00:13:54.482 --> 00:13:57.852
Enjoy the book.
00:13:57.852 --> 00:13:59.187
Female announcer: from the pages of scripture to the frontlines
00:13:59.187 --> 00:14:01.189
Of today's news, israel stands at the center of god's purposes.
00:14:01.189 --> 00:14:05.627
Pastor allen's new booklet, "supporting israel: how far is
00:14:05.627 --> 00:14:09.163
Too far?"
00:14:09.163 --> 00:14:10.498
Offers a quick way to gain a biblical perspective on israel,
00:14:10.498 --> 00:14:13.468
Why israel matters to god, and why it should matter to us.
00:14:13.468 --> 00:14:17.805
Request your copy with your gift of any amount today at
00:14:17.805 --> 00:14:20.875
Allenjackson.com or by calling...
00:14:20.875 --> 00:14:28.483
Allen: now, let's go back to 2 chronicles.
00:14:29.817 --> 00:14:31.953
We're gonna keep pushing this narrative through.
00:14:31.953 --> 00:14:34.122
Same chapter.
00:14:34.122 --> 00:14:35.490
It's chapter 31, verse 5: "as soon as the order went out, the
00:14:35.490 --> 00:14:37.892
Israelites generously gave the firstfruits of their grain,
00:14:37.892 --> 00:14:40.795
Their new wine, their oil, their honey, and all the fields--all
00:14:40.795 --> 00:14:43.298
That the fields produced.
00:14:43.298 --> 00:14:45.133
They brought a great amount, a tithe of everything.
00:14:45.133 --> 00:14:47.835
The men of israel and judah who lived in the towns of judah also
00:14:47.835 --> 00:14:51.306
Brought a tithe of their herds and their flocks and a tithe of
00:14:51.306 --> 00:14:53.708
The holy things dedicated to the lord their god, and they piled
00:14:53.708 --> 00:14:56.244
Them in heaps."
00:14:56.244 --> 00:14:58.046
The long story short, they brought so much that there were
00:14:58.046 --> 00:15:00.815
Enormous heaps of all the produce and the things
00:15:00.815 --> 00:15:04.152
They brought.
00:15:04.152 --> 00:15:05.620
The big picture view of that is renewal brings generosity.
00:15:05.620 --> 00:15:08.690
It changes how you spend your time and your treasure and
00:15:08.690 --> 00:15:11.826
Your attention.
00:15:11.826 --> 00:15:13.795
Shaping culture will lead to a distinction in your behaviors.
00:15:13.795 --> 00:15:19.167
We have lived in the midst of a secular culture almost
00:15:19.167 --> 00:15:21.903
Indistinguishable from the secularists around us.
00:15:21.903 --> 00:15:26.174
The location on sunday morning is not what makes us
00:15:26.174 --> 00:15:28.476
Distinctive, it's the choices that we make through the breadth
00:15:28.476 --> 00:15:31.412
Of our lives.
00:15:31.412 --> 00:15:33.448
And hezekiah is giving us a beautiful picture of this
00:15:33.448 --> 00:15:37.118
Through what he's leading the nation through and again it's
00:15:37.118 --> 00:15:40.455
A minority response, which means they have friends and family
00:15:40.455 --> 00:15:44.525
Members and associates and all sorts of people that think
00:15:44.525 --> 00:15:46.894
They've lost their balance.
00:15:46.894 --> 00:15:48.329
"why aren't you doing with us what you used to do?"
00:15:48.329 --> 00:15:51.599
"why aren't you behaving in the way you used to behave?"
00:15:51.599 --> 00:15:55.203
God's called us to be distinctive, not weird
00:15:55.203 --> 00:15:57.238
Distinctive, distinctive by our obedience.
00:15:57.238 --> 00:16:01.242
Look at verse--chapter 31, verse 20: "this is what hezekiah
00:16:01.242 --> 00:16:04.045
Did throughout judah, doing what was good and right and faithful
00:16:04.045 --> 00:16:07.415
Before the lord his god."
00:16:07.415 --> 00:16:08.783
[clearing throat]
00:16:08.783 --> 00:16:10.118
Excuse me, "in everything that he undertook in the service of
00:16:10.118 --> 00:16:12.353
God's temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he
00:16:12.353 --> 00:16:16.257
Sought his god and worked wholeheartedly.
00:16:16.257 --> 00:16:18.793
And so he prospered."
00:16:18.793 --> 00:16:20.962
Again, the summary statement is that shaping culture by
00:16:20.962 --> 00:16:24.665
Obedience to god.
00:16:24.665 --> 00:16:26.734
We're not gonna shape culture with sermons, we're not shaping
00:16:26.734 --> 00:16:29.937
Culture by judging people.
00:16:29.937 --> 00:16:31.305
We're going to lead lives that are obedient and it will bring
00:16:31.305 --> 00:16:34.909
The blessing of god and that gives us an opportunity to say
00:16:34.909 --> 00:16:38.179
Why we're different.
00:16:38.179 --> 00:16:40.481
You see, if we're trying to gain opportunities and give our
00:16:40.481 --> 00:16:43.451
Children opportunities by being more secular than
00:16:43.451 --> 00:16:46.320
The secularist.
00:16:46.320 --> 00:16:49.157
If we think we can outdo them.
00:16:49.157 --> 00:16:52.193
We're, where the message is, god really isn't significant to us.
00:16:52.193 --> 00:16:57.565
He's just some subset of who we are, but obedience to god, full
00:16:57.565 --> 00:17:02.203
Obedience to god brings him front and center, how we spend
00:17:02.203 --> 00:17:05.440
Our time, how we spend our money, how we orchestrate our
00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:08.976
Homes, the authority in our homes, how we behave, what we
00:17:08.976 --> 00:17:12.980
Engage in.
00:17:12.980 --> 00:17:15.049
And now we become a living testimony.
00:17:15.049 --> 00:17:17.652
The distinctiveness of our choices draws attention, and we
00:17:17.652 --> 00:17:21.389
Either become a canvas for the blessing of god and an
00:17:21.389 --> 00:17:24.258
Opportunity to tell the story, or we become
00:17:24.258 --> 00:17:27.795
Compromised people.
00:17:27.795 --> 00:17:31.132
Now, chapter 32 is a surprise.
00:17:31.132 --> 00:17:32.967
It's a--if you're reading this narrative, we've had 3 chapters
00:17:32.967 --> 00:17:35.970
In a row of hezekiah, a very young man, 25, taking on a whole
00:17:35.970 --> 00:17:39.674
Entrenched set of behaviors in a nation.
00:17:39.674 --> 00:17:42.810
I promise you he was reviled, he was hated.
00:17:42.810 --> 00:17:45.913
I'm sure there were many loud voices saying that he was
00:17:45.913 --> 00:17:49.383
Committing economic disaster to the country.
00:17:49.383 --> 00:17:53.020
And in chapter 32, you know, the last verse with the sentence we
00:17:53.020 --> 00:17:56.924
Just read said that he prospered.
00:17:56.924 --> 00:17:59.760
And then the very next verse says, "after all that hezekiah
00:17:59.760 --> 00:18:02.763
Had so faithfully done, the king of assyria came and
00:18:02.763 --> 00:18:07.301
Invaded judah."
00:18:07.301 --> 00:18:10.204
Are you kidding me?
00:18:10.204 --> 00:18:13.040
We just had verse after verse after verse of hezekiah's
00:18:13.040 --> 00:18:15.910
Remarkable leadership, choosing the lord, gathering the priests,
00:18:15.910 --> 00:18:19.747
Repent, prepare yourselves, open the temple, get it ready.
00:18:19.747 --> 00:18:23.484
Investments personally, calling the nation to repentance.
00:18:23.484 --> 00:18:27.321
And a great deal of fruit coming from that.
00:18:27.321 --> 00:18:30.158
And the very next sentence says, "the king of assyria invaded.
00:18:30.158 --> 00:18:34.695
And he laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to
00:18:34.695 --> 00:18:37.465
Conquer them for himself.
00:18:37.465 --> 00:18:40.234
And when hezekiah saw that the king had come and that he
00:18:40.234 --> 00:18:42.870
Intended to make war on jerusalem."
00:18:42.870 --> 00:18:46.841
Now in my preferred scenario, if i were writing this narrative.
00:18:46.841 --> 00:18:51.312
I would have, right after that verse where it said, "so he
00:18:51.312 --> 00:18:53.714
Prospered," and i would have said, "and everyone lived
00:18:53.714 --> 00:18:55.516
Happily ever after."
00:18:55.516 --> 00:18:58.553
That's my preference.
00:18:58.553 --> 00:19:01.088
The blessings of god unchallenged.
00:19:01.088 --> 00:19:04.258
That you choose obedience, that you stand up to darkness, that
00:19:04.258 --> 00:19:08.262
You engage in a change of behaviors that brings freedom to
00:19:08.262 --> 00:19:12.033
Whole segments of a culture.
00:19:12.033 --> 00:19:13.968
You overcome the adversity and the hatred and all the things.
00:19:13.968 --> 00:19:17.672
My preference would be at that point, "and god caused you to
00:19:17.672 --> 00:19:20.908
Prosper and your enemies evaporated."
00:19:20.908 --> 00:19:26.581
Don't you feel that way?
00:19:26.581 --> 00:19:28.282
I mean, i'm not wrong in this, right?
00:19:28.282 --> 00:19:30.751
Like, i've been doing the right thing.
00:19:30.751 --> 00:19:33.654
And it says, you know, god blessed hezekiah up until the
00:19:33.654 --> 00:19:38.359
Most powerful army of the day marched into judah and laid
00:19:38.359 --> 00:19:44.031
Siege to their most important or their most powerful cities.
00:19:44.031 --> 00:19:49.103
See, i don't believe we can ignore evil and lead
00:19:49.103 --> 00:19:51.038
Triumphant lives.
00:19:51.038 --> 00:19:53.741
It's a very important point.
00:19:53.741 --> 00:19:55.076
We think if we don't talk about it, it'll go away.
00:19:55.076 --> 00:19:57.678
We say we don't believe in demons, we don't really believe
00:19:57.678 --> 00:19:59.614
In the devil, we don't believe in all that spiritual stuff.
00:19:59.614 --> 00:20:02.917
It'll leave us alone. no, it won't.
00:20:02.917 --> 00:20:06.087
Evil has to be overcome.
00:20:06.087 --> 00:20:08.723
Evil is not passive.
00:20:08.723 --> 00:20:11.058
It isn't accidental to me.
00:20:11.058 --> 00:20:12.426
I don't--in the way the narrative is presented, that
00:20:12.426 --> 00:20:15.429
Judah was invaded.
00:20:15.429 --> 00:20:17.465
Evil is not passive.
00:20:17.465 --> 00:20:21.769
And i think we have thought we could just talk kindly and evil
00:20:21.769 --> 00:20:25.339
Would relent.
00:20:25.339 --> 00:20:26.674
No, it won't.
00:20:26.674 --> 00:20:28.042
Jesus said in john 10 that satan "comes to steal, to kill,
00:20:28.042 --> 00:20:30.845
And destroy."
00:20:30.845 --> 00:20:32.680
Not to disrupt, distract, and cause you to feel blue.
00:20:32.680 --> 00:20:37.251
He's here to destroy you.
00:20:37.251 --> 00:20:39.754
There's some lessons to be learned from this.
00:20:39.754 --> 00:20:43.758
Same chapter, verse 6 says: "hezekiah appointed military
00:20:43.758 --> 00:20:48.729
Officers over the people and assembled them before him in the
00:20:48.729 --> 00:20:51.198
Square at the city gate and encouraged them with these
00:20:51.198 --> 00:20:53.301
Words: 'be strong and courageous.
00:20:53.301 --> 00:20:55.569
Don't be afraid or discouraged because of the king of assyria
00:20:55.569 --> 00:20:58.205
And the vast army with him.
00:20:58.205 --> 00:21:00.074
There's greater power with us than with him.
00:21:00.074 --> 00:21:02.910
With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the lord
00:21:02.910 --> 00:21:05.846
Our god to help us and to fight our battles.'
00:21:05.846 --> 00:21:09.950
And the people gained confidence from what hezekiah the king of
00:21:09.950 --> 00:21:12.653
Judah said."
00:21:12.653 --> 00:21:14.422
If you want to know what they were feeling, you can know by
00:21:14.422 --> 00:21:16.691
What hezekiah was saying to them.
00:21:16.691 --> 00:21:18.693
"be strong and courageous."
00:21:18.693 --> 00:21:20.027
They felt frightened and discouraged.
00:21:20.027 --> 00:21:22.563
They're outnumbered and outgunned.
00:21:22.563 --> 00:21:23.964
The syrian army has better technology.
00:21:23.964 --> 00:21:26.634
They have a string of victories.
00:21:26.634 --> 00:21:29.904
He said, "don't be afraid or discouraged.
00:21:29.904 --> 00:21:32.573
There's a greater power with us."
00:21:32.573 --> 00:21:33.941
It didn't look like it.
00:21:33.941 --> 00:21:35.276
It looked like all the power is with the assyrians.
00:21:35.276 --> 00:21:38.412
I think we tend to think that way.
00:21:38.412 --> 00:21:40.614
We can think, "well, we're small in number, we're few in number,
00:21:40.614 --> 00:21:43.851
I'm not particularly influential, i don't have
00:21:43.851 --> 00:21:45.486
A great deal of power, i'm not an influencer, i don't have
00:21:45.486 --> 00:21:47.988
A platform, i don't have a lot of money."
00:21:47.988 --> 00:21:50.925
No, what we have is the name of almighty god.
00:21:50.925 --> 00:21:55.930
And hezekiah said to them, "they have only the arm of flesh.
00:21:55.930 --> 00:22:02.336
With us is the lord our god."
00:22:02.336 --> 00:22:04.805
And that's the distinction that we'll have to spend
00:22:04.805 --> 00:22:06.340
More time thinking about.
00:22:06.340 --> 00:22:07.708
You see, when there's a challenge in your life or mine,
00:22:07.708 --> 00:22:10.244
We have a diagnosis that we don't want, or we have a
00:22:10.244 --> 00:22:12.847
Circumstance in our life that feels threatening or we have a
00:22:12.847 --> 00:22:16.584
Child that is a point of concern or somebody that we love is in
00:22:16.584 --> 00:22:19.487
A difficult place and we see all the reasons why it feels
00:22:19.487 --> 00:22:23.090
Hopeless or despair should dominate and we lose sight of
00:22:23.090 --> 00:22:26.293
That with us is the lord our god.
00:22:26.293 --> 00:22:29.029
And he's with us for a very specific reason.
00:22:29.029 --> 00:22:30.898
Hezekiah articulated, he said, "he's to help us and to fight
00:22:30.898 --> 00:22:34.168
Our battles."
00:22:34.168 --> 00:22:36.003
And the outcome is the people, it says, gained confidence in
00:22:36.003 --> 00:22:39.240
The lord.
00:22:39.240 --> 00:22:40.808
I would submit to you what we want to do in this season is not
00:22:40.808 --> 00:22:43.310
Be discouraged because we have a christian martyr in 2025.
00:22:43.310 --> 00:22:48.783
To not be frightened because there is a lot of wickedness and
00:22:48.783 --> 00:22:51.819
Violence and lawlessness is proliferating across
00:22:51.819 --> 00:22:54.488
Our country.
00:22:54.488 --> 00:22:57.091
I woke up, just on the way to work this morning, i heard the
00:22:57.091 --> 00:22:59.093
Mayor of chicago just raging because they were arresting
00:22:59.093 --> 00:23:02.763
Venezuelan gang members in his city.
00:23:02.763 --> 00:23:06.801
I was thinking, "gee, thank you might have been okay."
00:23:06.801 --> 00:23:10.438
[congregation applauding]
00:23:10.438 --> 00:23:15.342
But i prefer to keep my attention focused on the lord.
00:23:15.342 --> 00:23:18.145
He's helping us.
00:23:18.145 --> 00:23:20.147
He's the one where we want to gain our confidence.
00:23:20.147 --> 00:23:24.285
Now in the next verse, verse 15.
00:23:24.285 --> 00:23:27.455
The king, the assyrian general, has a statement to make.
00:23:27.455 --> 00:23:31.592
He said, "don't let hezekiah deceive you and mislead you
00:23:31.592 --> 00:23:34.195
Like this.
00:23:34.195 --> 00:23:35.529
Don't believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been
00:23:35.529 --> 00:23:38.232
Able to deliver his people from my hand or the hand of
00:23:38.232 --> 00:23:40.701
My fathers."
00:23:40.701 --> 00:23:42.036
That part is true.
00:23:42.036 --> 00:23:43.404
They've conquered every people they've attacked.
00:23:43.404 --> 00:23:46.474
"'how much less will your god deliver you from my hand!'
00:23:46.474 --> 00:23:50.444
Sennacherib's officers spoke further against the lord god and
00:23:50.444 --> 00:23:53.447
Against his servant hezekiah."
00:23:53.447 --> 00:23:57.084
There will always be voices of dissent.
00:23:57.084 --> 00:24:00.354
There will always be voices telling you you shouldn't
00:24:00.354 --> 00:24:02.723
Trust god.
00:24:02.723 --> 00:24:04.258
You shouldn't believe in god.
00:24:04.258 --> 00:24:06.994
What's gotten into you?
00:24:06.994 --> 00:24:08.362
What are you thinking?
00:24:08.362 --> 00:24:09.697
Why are you holding that position?
00:24:09.697 --> 00:24:11.065
Why are you making that choice?
00:24:11.065 --> 00:24:12.399
Why are you willingly becoming vulnerable?
00:24:12.399 --> 00:24:18.439
And oftentimes those voices are powerful voices.
00:24:18.439 --> 00:24:22.142
In the world today, there are powerful voices, powerful
00:24:22.142 --> 00:24:24.979
Platforms that mock god and mock people who believe in god.
00:24:24.979 --> 00:24:30.284
Who practice deception as a matter of daily habit, and when
00:24:30.284 --> 00:24:34.188
The truth comes out, they hide the truth or deny the truth.
00:24:34.188 --> 00:24:40.294
I don't know, put it in your notes.
00:24:40.294 --> 00:24:41.662
Cnn, msnbc.
00:24:41.662 --> 00:24:42.997
You can make your own list.
00:24:42.997 --> 00:24:46.033
They're not exactly bastions of great truth.
00:24:46.033 --> 00:24:49.003
Hezekiah is identified as god's servant.
00:24:49.003 --> 00:24:54.041
So in the face of all of this slander and this boasting of
00:24:54.041 --> 00:24:58.712
Evil, hezekiah begins with opening the temple, cleaning out
00:24:58.712 --> 00:25:01.515
The filth, gathering the people to worship, giving generously.
00:25:01.515 --> 00:25:06.453
And his obedience led to conflict.
00:25:06.453 --> 00:25:11.225
We've got to get emotionally prepared for that.
00:25:11.225 --> 00:25:14.161
We're shocked.
00:25:14.161 --> 00:25:16.363
Folks, it's at the opening of the bible, god created--he says
00:25:16.363 --> 00:25:18.832
He created adam and eve, he put them in the garden, and he said,
00:25:18.832 --> 00:25:20.968
"it's very good."
00:25:20.968 --> 00:25:23.404
And he came in the afternoon and he walked with them and in all
00:25:23.404 --> 00:25:26.674
Of his complete provision for their lives and what happens?
00:25:26.674 --> 00:25:30.811
Satan rolls up and said, "did god really say?"
00:25:30.811 --> 00:25:35.583
I mean, the nature of this existence we have is presented
00:25:35.583 --> 00:25:39.386
To us from the opening chapters of the bible to the conclusion,
00:25:39.386 --> 00:25:43.123
And yet i'm still surprised.
00:25:43.123 --> 00:25:46.126
"well, i didn't expect it to be difficult.
00:25:46.126 --> 00:25:49.730
I didn't expect there to be opposition.
00:25:49.730 --> 00:25:53.434
I didn't expect to have to overcome something.
00:25:53.434 --> 00:25:57.605
I thought i had to overcome, like, sermons that were too
00:25:57.605 --> 00:25:59.873
Long, or parking places that were too far away.
00:25:59.873 --> 00:26:05.546
And now i've got like something that's really a problem.
00:26:05.546 --> 00:26:08.449
It's like really threatening and where's god?"
00:26:08.449 --> 00:26:12.953
It's like we haven't paid much attention.
00:26:12.953 --> 00:26:16.190
Allen: you know, i used to believe that antisemitism was
00:26:16.256 --> 00:26:18.726
A european problem or an issue in the islamic nations of the
00:26:18.726 --> 00:26:22.429
World, but now we see it flourishing in our nation, on
00:26:22.429 --> 00:26:26.033
Elite college campuses, even amongst the political class and
00:26:26.033 --> 00:26:29.803
Now on the conservative ideological spectrum.
00:26:29.803 --> 00:26:33.540
It's troubling.
00:26:33.540 --> 00:26:34.875
So i wrote a book, "supporting israel: how far is too far?"
00:26:34.875 --> 00:26:38.912
You know, i know we've all got a little battle fatigue with the
00:26:38.912 --> 00:26:41.482
Constant conflicts in the middle east and beyond, but what we
00:26:41.482 --> 00:26:44.818
Desperately need is a biblical perspective on how to navigate
00:26:44.818 --> 00:26:48.489
What's unfolding in our world, and i believe the word of god
00:26:48.489 --> 00:26:51.859
Gives that to us with clarity.
00:26:51.859 --> 00:26:54.061
So we put this book together to help you find yourself in
00:26:54.061 --> 00:26:56.897
A place that will bring the blessings of god to your life.
00:26:56.897 --> 00:26:59.900
I wanna pray that we'll have his wisdom.
00:26:59.900 --> 00:27:02.169
Father, you said when we lack wisdom, we could ask and that
00:27:02.169 --> 00:27:04.338
You would give it to us without criticism.
00:27:04.338 --> 00:27:06.473
We want to stand with you in what you're accomplishing in the
00:27:06.473 --> 00:27:08.842
Earth so that your purposes can come forth.
00:27:08.842 --> 00:27:11.879
Holy spirit, give us the discernment we need in
00:27:11.879 --> 00:27:14.615
Jesus's name, amen.
00:27:14.615 --> 00:27:16.150
♪♪♪
00:27:16.150 --> 00:27:27.394

Allen Jackson - Satanic Responses (Part 1)

October 23, 2025 | 28:35

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