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Essentials Part 1

Allen Jackson Ministries

November 23, 2020

27:29

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

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Essentials Part 1

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♪♪♪
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Allen Jackson: You need to knowwithout any question, with
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absolute certainty, that youhave the ability to help another
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person be born again, to findtheir way into the kingdom
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of God.
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That's not about finding pastoror getting them to church, you
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need that tucked into yourportfolio, you don't want to
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meet the King and not be able topass that test.
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If I could choose, I would saythat the requirement for coming
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back to church the third week isbringing somebody with you that
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you've led to the Lord.
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♪♪♪
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♪♪♪
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♪♪♪
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CC BY ABERDEEN CAPTIONING1-800-688-6621WWW.ABERCAP.COM
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Allen Jackson: It's goodto be with you again.
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Our topic in this sessionis The Essentials,
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essentials of our faith.
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Now, it doesn't matter what theenterprise is, our ability to
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consistently perform withexcellence is totally invested
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in how well we understand thefundamentals, and the consistent
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attention we give to them.
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And so often in Christianity, Ithink we kind of learn the
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basics and then we think we wantto move on, move past it.
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Well that wouldn't work, if youwere a doctor and you said you
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know I don't wanna be botheredany longer with the
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fundamentals, washing my handsbetween patients seems like such
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an encumbrance.
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You know, particularly thisyear, we've learned a whole lot
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about personal hygiene all overagain, haven't we?
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Washing our hands, not touchingour faces, all the things that
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have come with our wonderfulintroduction to COVID.
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Well those same principles comeback to our faith, understanding
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the need we have for theredemptive work of Jesus,
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why we need forgiveness,how forgiveness comes to us,
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what righteousness is.
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Those aren't just things welearn as beginners in our
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Christianity, those are thefoundation for whatever we
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become as Christ followers.
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Whatever challenge we facetoday, the outcome that we're
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looking for is linked tounderstanding the redemptive
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work of Jesus, what heaccomplished with us through his
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death on the cross, his burialand his resurrection.
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So we don't want to leave thosein the rearview mirror, we wanna
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invite them very much into theforefront of our thoughts, of
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our prayers, of our faith, andwe need the help of the
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Holy Spirit.
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In truth, we need a revelation,we need something that goes
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beyond our study, our intellect,our understanding,
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enduring sermons.
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We need the Holy Spirit to giveus a revelation of how, through
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the cross, Jesus has madevictory available for you
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and me.
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Well that's our goal in thissession.
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We're gonna open our Bibles,open our hearts, and then before
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we go I'll come back, we willpray together and ask the Spirit
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of God for just that kind of arevelation, to put our feet in a
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new place.
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Enjoy the lesson.
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Allen Jackson: The topic thisweek is The Essentials, and I
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really want to hand you sometools, I don't imagine that the
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topics are gonna be brand newideas to you but they need to be
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more than something you'refamiliar with.
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My objective is to hand it toyou so that you could take this
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outline and you could reproduceit in a discussion with another
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person; not in the same way Iwould, you can do better, you
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can put it in the context ofyour life and your stories and
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your God experience.
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One of the most powerful aspectsof your faith is your ability to
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articulate what God has done inyour life, 'cause that's not a
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theory, that's not really up fordebate, it's not about somebody
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else's opinion.
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You can tell your God story butyou need, around that, the
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Scripture so that you could helpsomebody else begin their own
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journey with the Lord.
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We're never going to see thechange in the hearts and minds
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of the people of our nation,we're never going to find a
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better pattern, a better course,we're not gonna see Jesus back
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in our schools, and Jesushonored on our college campuses,
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and truth returned to the publicsquare until the church of Jesus
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Christ is awakened and it beginsto become an unrelenting
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advocate for Jesus of Nazareth,and that's up to you and me.
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We've got to recalibrate, I knowI'm preaching to the choir,
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you're sitting outside on aWednesday night, but sometimes
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even the choir needsa good lesson.
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So we're gonna start this weekwith this; Stephen Covey, I read
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years ago a quote from him,and it's appropriate.
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He said, "The main thing is tokeep the main thing the main
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thing," and we can get so heatedup about architectural styles
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and musical styles, and allthat's been peeled away from us
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this year.
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We were so thrilled just to betogether we'd come outside, and
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we've had to change our musicalarrangements so the drums and
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the bass didn't disturbneighbors more than
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absolutely necessary.
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So how we worship and theformats we worship, we've had a
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string of musical guests formultiple weeks now, the styles
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change week to week but the onewe worship doesn't change; the
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main thing is to keep the mainthing the main thing.
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You need to know without anyquestion, with absolute
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certainty, that you have theability to help another person
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be born again, to find their wayinto the kingdom of God.
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That's not about finding pastoror getting them to church, you
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need that tucked into yourportfolio, you don't want to
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meet the king and not be able topass that test.
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If I could choose, I would saythat the requirement for coming
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back to church the third week isbringing somebody with you that
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you've led to the Lord; I don'tget to choose.
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Luke chapter 19, in verse 1,we're gonna follow Jesus, he's
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on his way to Jerusalem but he'sgoing to walk through the city
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of Jericho.
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If you're traveling down theJordan Valley from Galilee, the
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northern part of Israel, andyou're headed to Jerusalem, you
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go south down the Jordan Valleyuntil you get to Jericho.
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It's a big Oasis, one of theoldest cities in the world,
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right beside the Dead Sea, thelowest place below sea level on
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planet Earth, and you take aright and you're gonna climb 18
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miles up the hills to Jerusalem.
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It's a hot place, it's a goodplace in the winter, it's a
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miserable place in the summer.
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"Jesus entered Jericho, he'spassing through," smart man.
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"And there was a man there bythe name of Zacchaeus, he was a
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chief tax collector and he waswealthy, and he wanted to see
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who Jesus was but being a shortman, he couldn't because of the
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crowd, so he ran ahead andclimbed a tree to see him since
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Jesus was coming that way.
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When Jesus reached the spot, helooked up, and he said to him,
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'Zacchaeus, come downimmediately, I have to stay at
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your house today.'
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So he came down at once andwelcomed Jesus gladly, and when
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the people saw this they beganto mutter, 'He's gone to be the
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guest of a sinner,' butZacchaeus stood and said to the
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Lord, 'Look, here and now, Igive half my possessions to the
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poor, and if I've cheatedanybody out of anything I'll pay
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back four times the amount.'
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And Jesus said to him, 'Todaysalvation has come to this
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house, because this man, too, isa son of Abraham.
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For the Son of Man came to seekand to save what was lost.'"
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Jesus came to the Earth on anassignment, it was a search and
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rescue mission, searching forpeople who would accept the
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message that they might bedelivered from the dominion
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of darkness and broughtinto the kingdom of light.
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He said, "I came to search forand to save those who were
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lost," Jesus is still up to thatin the Earth and you and I are
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his ambassadors.
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It's not the pastor's job, it'snot the evangelist's job, it's
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not the denomination's job, it'snot the organized church's job,
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you and I are responsible totake the good news of Jesus
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Christ into our relationshipnetwork.
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You don't want people who youwould call friend, going to Hell
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'cause you and I didn't have thecourage to tell them the truth
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about Jesus; that will beawkward.
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It'll be more awkward ifsomebody else tells them the
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story and they get excited abouttheir faith, and they come back
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to you, "Oh yeah, I knew that,""Well why didn't you tell me?"
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We want to develop a comfortlevel with this, "Well some
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people won't like it," somepeople don't like your fashion
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sense but you're gonna keep it,some people don't like the way
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you smell but you're notchanging your cologne.
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What is this sense that we'reafraid we'll offend somebody
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with Jesus?
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Now the parable or the story ofZacchaeus and Jericho is
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intriguing, we could spend ourwhole time there, I don't want
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to do that.
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He's a thief, he's the mostdespised person in town, the
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Romans discovered the mosteffective way to raise taxes
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wasn't to bring in an outsiderbut to recruit a local person,
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they knew who the wealthy peoplewere, they knew the normal trade
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practices in the community, sothey would take a local citizen
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and then stand beside them theauthority of a Roman soldier.
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Well human nature being what itwas, the tax collectors, if
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you're willing to betray yourpeople for the Romans, you'll be
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willing to extort money that theRomans don't need so you can
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line your own pocket.
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So Luke says to us, "Zacchaeuswas a tax collector and he's
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wealthy," and the first thing hesays after he gives the
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invitation to Jesus is, "If I'vestolen anything," and you can
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see all the eyes rolling in theaudience, "If you've stolen
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anything, scumbag?"
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Now, they're muttering, "Jesuswent to be with a sinner,"
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yes he did, it's howwe got in the door.
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And Zacchaeus changed his life,he drops off the record, we
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don't hear any more about him,but the message of what Jesus
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was doing, the value of one,that's a consistent theme in
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Jesus's ministry; the shepherdthat leaves the 99 sheep to go
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find the one.
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Every one of us has somebody inour sphere of influence, in our
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constellation, that needs tohear a God story, what is it
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gonna take for us to be willingto share it?
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How desperate are times going tohave to become?
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Now we have a universal problem,and because God is just, if
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there's a universal problem he'sgonna provide a
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universal solution.
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If we share a problem thenthere's gonna be a resolution
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that's equally accessible, it'simportant to understand both
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sides of the equation.
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Romans chapter 5, in verse 12,says this, "Just as sin entered
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the world through one man anddeath through sin, and in this
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way death came to all menbecause all sinned."
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Every one of us, apart from thegrace and mercy of God, stands
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convicted of being a sinner.
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It's not about the depth of yourdepravity or how gross the
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darkness you walked in, if wetransgress on one point we're
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guilty of breaking the lawbecause God's standard is
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absolute perfection, he's notgrading on a curve.
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And the message of Scripture, Ican bring you many-many verses,
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it says that we're all guilty,it's a universal problem of the
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human race, we are born in sin.
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We don't have to be taught tolie, we have to teach our
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children to share, we don't haveto teach them to be selfish, we
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come hardwired with that stuff.
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So we have a problem but thesolution is equally available to
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everybody, so the $64.000question becomes: how can I
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be righteous?
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It's a big religious word, itjust simply means the ability to
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stand in the presence of Godwithout fear, without guilt, and
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without shame.
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Now, it's an important question,because every one of us are
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gonna stand in the presence ofGod, no one's gonna be excluded.
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You can't test out, you can'tsend your wife or your husband
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or your pastor, your parentscan't go on your behalf, so what
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is necessary to be able to standbefore the creator of all things
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in righteousness?
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it's an important question.
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Well there's two approaches, youcan choose to establish it on
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your own, through your innategoodness by a comparative
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system, "I'm better thansomebody else," or God has made
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it available to you through agift; and they're mutually
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exclusive options, you can'tchoose both.
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If you're gonna do it on yourown, the gift is of no benefit
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to you, Romans chapter 3, inverse 21, invites us into a
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discussion on this.
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It says, "Now," it's a timingword, previously there was a
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different circumstance, "But nowa righteousness from God apart
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from law has been made known,to which the law
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and the prophets testify.
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This righteousness from Godcomes through faith in Jesus
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Christ to all who believe."
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There is a righteousness fromGod, a righteousness that passed
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God's standard, that'sestablished by God himself, and
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it says it comes, "Through faithin Jesus the Messiah to all
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who believe."
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So just as much as all havesinned, all have access to a
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righteousness from God throughfaith in Jesus Christ, no matter
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who we've been, no matter ouraccent, no matter the color of
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our skin, no matter what nationour passport is issued from, not
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about our economic status norour IQ, it's available to
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everyone who believes.
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It says, "There isno difference...
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we have all sinned and fallenshort of the glory of God, and
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we're all justified freely byhis grace through the redemption
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that came by Christ Jesus."
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Redemption's another technicalword, to be redeemed is to be
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bought back from someplace;Jesus paid a price that we owed
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that we didn't have the capacityto pay, he redeemed us from a
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life of being enslaved to sin.
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"God presented Jesus as asacrifice of atonement, through
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faith in his blood.
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He did this to demonstrate hisjustice, because in his
00:13:46.985 --> 00:13:49.420
forbearance he had leftthe sins committed
00:13:49.454 --> 00:13:51.389
beforehand unpunished."
00:13:51.422 --> 00:13:53.958
Prior to Jesus's death on thecross God withheld judgment,
00:13:53.992 --> 00:13:58.997
there were animal sacrificesmade, the animal sacrifice
00:13:59.030 --> 00:14:01.900
wasn't a legitimate substitutefor the life of the human beings
00:14:01.933 --> 00:14:06.638
but God, in his forbearance,withheld judgment if the people
00:14:06.671 --> 00:14:09.941
would make the animal sacrificebecause God knew he was sending
00:14:09.974 --> 00:14:13.811
his son to be the sacrificefor all sin.
00:14:13.845 --> 00:14:19.851
"He did it to demonstrate hisjustice at the present time, so
00:14:19.951 --> 00:14:23.888
as to be just and the one whojustifies those who have faith
00:14:23.922 --> 00:14:28.026
in Jesus."
00:14:28.059 --> 00:14:30.828
Again, it's a powerful passageof Scripture, there is a
00:14:30.862 --> 00:14:33.665
righteousness that comes to usfrom God, not from ourselves,
00:14:33.698 --> 00:14:37.402
not from our affiliation with aparticular congregation or
00:14:37.435 --> 00:14:40.238
denomination, not because youread the right translation or
00:14:40.271 --> 00:14:43.975
your beverage list is betterthan mine.
00:14:44.008 --> 00:14:47.145
A righteousness that comes to usfrom God, it comes through faith
00:14:47.178 --> 00:14:51.149
in Jesus the Messiah, everyonehas access, it said; everyone
00:14:51.182 --> 00:14:57.188
has access, think of that.
00:14:57.922 --> 00:15:01.225
There's a cry in our nationtonight for justice, we don't
00:15:01.259 --> 00:15:05.096
have equal access before thelaw, the treatment differs
00:15:05.129 --> 00:15:08.433
depending on so many factors.
00:15:08.466 --> 00:15:10.234
It's human nature, it's existedacross civilization from the
00:15:10.268 --> 00:15:13.838
beginning until today, but thereis a God who's just and everyone
00:15:13.871 --> 00:15:19.344
has access to thisrighteousness.
00:15:19.377 --> 00:15:23.181
"God presented Jesus as thesacrifice of atonement," God is
00:15:23.214 --> 00:15:27.852
the source of justice, that isso important to establish in
00:15:27.885 --> 00:15:31.356
your heart.
00:15:31.389 --> 00:15:32.690
If we want justice in ournation, if we want justice in a
00:15:32.724 --> 00:15:35.626
legal system, if we want justicein our political system it will
00:15:35.660 --> 00:15:39.831
emanate because all of thosethings are yielded to the
00:15:39.864 --> 00:15:42.533
righteous principles of Godbecause he is the source of
00:15:42.567 --> 00:15:45.937
justice, there is no other.
00:15:45.970 --> 00:15:49.107
We can't ignore the principlesof God and behave in an ungodly
00:15:49.140 --> 00:15:52.643
fashion and imagine that justicewill be available to us, it's
00:15:52.677 --> 00:15:56.547
not possible.
00:15:56.581 --> 00:15:58.983
Don't apologize because youbelieve in the Word of God,
00:15:59.017 --> 00:16:02.253
don't flinch because you're anadvocate for Jesus, he is the
00:16:02.286 --> 00:16:06.057
source of justice, and then inan expression of amazing grace,
00:16:06.090 --> 00:16:12.096
God is the one who justifies.
00:16:13.264 --> 00:16:16.734
God is the onewho justifies, wow.
00:16:16.768 --> 00:16:22.774
Allen Jackson: I can tell youthis, that Christianity has been
00:16:25.343 --> 00:16:27.345
the single most profoundinfluence in shaping the values,
00:16:27.378 --> 00:16:30.548
the course and the direction ofour nation, and I believe
00:16:30.581 --> 00:16:34.152
because of our faith we havebeen uniquely blessed by God.
00:16:34.185 --> 00:16:38.489
Now our nation is not perfect,but if we neglect or set aside
00:16:38.523 --> 00:16:41.759
the value sets which spawned ourfreedoms I assure you our
00:16:41.793 --> 00:16:45.196
freedoms will not persist.
00:16:45.229 --> 00:16:48.132
Allen Jackson: Our nation is ata crossroads, it's a line of
00:16:48.166 --> 00:16:50.568
demarcation, we're gonna choosea direction very soon and it's
00:16:50.601 --> 00:16:53.104
not about an election.
00:16:53.137 --> 00:16:54.672
I believe what's in front of usis as important as Gettysburg
00:16:54.705 --> 00:16:58.009
has proven to be in our history,we need a God perspective.
00:16:58.042 --> 00:17:01.112
The challenge that we face isn'tabout the depravity of the
00:17:01.145 --> 00:17:03.581
wicked, the great challenge weface is the indifference of the
00:17:03.614 --> 00:17:06.751
faithful, we've got to havea heart change.
00:17:06.784 --> 00:17:10.021
Well I worked for several weeksand put together some lessons
00:17:10.054 --> 00:17:12.924
that I've shared with our churchand I want to share them with
00:17:12.957 --> 00:17:14.659
you, we put them in a book,"God Bless America Again."
00:17:14.692 --> 00:17:17.662
There's no question God hasblessed this nation, he called
00:17:17.695 --> 00:17:20.131
us into existence and he hassustained us, what we will be in
00:17:20.164 --> 00:17:23.668
the future has more to do withthe hearts of God's people than
00:17:23.701 --> 00:17:26.571
a politician or a politicalparty or an election.
00:17:26.604 --> 00:17:29.373
We need a prophetic perspectivefrom God right now.
00:17:29.407 --> 00:17:32.977
Enjoy the book.
00:17:33.010 --> 00:17:34.312
male announcer: Whendonating today, you'll receive
00:17:34.345 --> 00:17:36.047
Pastor Allen's sermon CD thatdiscusses what it will take
00:17:36.080 --> 00:17:39.317
to bring healing to our nation.
00:17:39.350 --> 00:17:41.419
Plus, those who donate $25 ormore will also receive his new
00:17:41.452 --> 00:17:45.289
book, "God Bless America Again."
00:17:45.323 --> 00:17:48.092
So give today by calling...
00:17:48.126 --> 00:17:50.128
Or by visiting AllenJackson.com.
00:17:52.630 --> 00:17:58.603
Allen Jackson: Now I need totake a minute because the
00:17:58.636 --> 00:18:00.371
tenacity of self-righteousness,it's a problem for religious
00:18:00.404 --> 00:18:05.176
people, and if you come tochurch outdoors on a Wednesday
00:18:05.209 --> 00:18:07.311
night you're religious, you'rebordering on fanatical; in fact,
00:18:07.345 --> 00:18:13.351
you probably crossed the border.
00:18:14.085 --> 00:18:16.988
And the tendency we have, toimagine ourselves better than
00:18:17.021 --> 00:18:19.824
someone else, we read the righttranslation, we worship in the
00:18:19.857 --> 00:18:23.895
right way, we believe the mostright things, and we imagine
00:18:23.928 --> 00:18:29.100
that somehow those thingscommend us to God.
00:18:29.133 --> 00:18:32.970
And out of that, the soil ofself-righteousness, springs
00:18:33.004 --> 00:18:36.741
pride, and pride bringsdestruction every time so we've
00:18:36.774 --> 00:18:42.780
gotta guard our hearts againstthis, Jesus talked about it
00:18:42.947 --> 00:18:46.184
a great deal.
00:18:46.217 --> 00:18:47.518
In Luke 18, Jesus is speaking,and the audience he's addressing
00:18:47.552 --> 00:18:51.789
Luke introduces, he says, "Tosome who were confident of their
00:18:51.822 --> 00:18:54.625
own righteousness," they wereconfident that their status with
00:18:54.659 --> 00:18:58.729
God was good.
00:18:58.763 --> 00:19:01.399
I don't want to livepresumptively, I don't want to
00:19:01.432 --> 00:19:04.468
live in great fear, shrinking interror or dread, but I don't
00:19:04.502 --> 00:19:08.906
want to live with a swagger oran arrogance or
00:19:08.940 --> 00:19:11.409
a boisterousness.
00:19:11.442 --> 00:19:12.777
Folks, I like to kneel to pray,I like to close my eyes and bow
00:19:12.810 --> 00:19:17.281
my head, I like to read my Biblein quiet places, I want there to
00:19:17.315 --> 00:19:21.385
be a consistent stream ofexpressions before Almighty God
00:19:21.419 --> 00:19:25.523
that I am yielding to him.
00:19:25.556 --> 00:19:28.759
I want to serve other people, Idon't want to stay engaged, I'm
00:19:28.793 --> 00:19:33.631
not trying to figure out how tosay, "I have done my the
00:19:33.664 --> 00:19:36.734
essential business, I've readthe right prayer, I've been
00:19:36.767 --> 00:19:39.770
dipped in the right pool," but Idon't wanna point at those
00:19:39.804 --> 00:19:43.741
things and say, "I've done thesignificant things for God."
00:19:43.774 --> 00:19:46.978
I wanna work into my heart thiswillingness to say, "God, I
00:19:47.011 --> 00:19:49.714
don't know you like I need to,I'm not done following you, I'm
00:19:49.747 --> 00:19:54.051
not done saying yes to you, I'venot done making sacrifices
00:19:54.085 --> 00:19:57.755
for you."
00:19:57.788 --> 00:19:59.090
Abraham followed God all of hislife, he had a promise fulfilled
00:19:59.123 --> 00:20:02.493
in Isaac, and God said, "I wantyou to offer that young man
00:20:02.526 --> 00:20:05.529
as a sacrifice," and Abrahamsaid, "Where?"
00:20:05.563 --> 00:20:09.367
I want to build that into myheart, I don't wanna be
00:20:09.400 --> 00:20:13.671
overconfident in my status withGod, I want to treat it with
00:20:13.704 --> 00:20:17.275
dignity and respect andattention every day, and I would
00:20:17.308 --> 00:20:21.679
encourage you to do the same.
00:20:21.712 --> 00:20:24.649
"To some who were confident oftheir own righteousness and
00:20:24.682 --> 00:20:26.751
looked down on everybody else,Jesus told this parable:
00:20:26.784 --> 00:20:29.987
'Two men went upto the temple to pray,
00:20:30.021 --> 00:20:31.756
one a Pharisee and theother a tax collector.
00:20:31.789 --> 00:20:34.759
And the Pharisee stood andprayed about himself, "God,
00:20:34.792 --> 00:20:37.061
I thank you I'm not like othermen, robbers and evildoers and
00:20:37.094 --> 00:20:41.532
adulterers, or even likethis tax collector."'"
00:20:41.565 --> 00:20:44.035
He points at somebody.What a happy man.
00:20:44.068 --> 00:20:48.939
"I fast twice a week,I give a tenth of all I get."
00:20:48.973 --> 00:20:54.045
And Jesus said,"But the tax collector--"
00:20:54.078 --> 00:20:56.013
who everybody knows is a thief,he's a traitor--
00:20:56.047 --> 00:21:00.284
"The tax collectorstood at a distance,
00:21:00.318 --> 00:21:01.919
he wouldn't even look up toheaven, but he beat his
00:21:01.952 --> 00:21:03.921
breast and said, 'God, havemercy on me, I'm a sinner.'"
00:21:03.954 --> 00:21:07.725
Jesus said, "I tell you thetruth," and you know by now when
00:21:07.758 --> 00:21:09.860
you hear that phrase, right?
00:21:09.894 --> 00:21:11.896
Pay attention, 'cause what'scoming is shocking.
00:21:11.929 --> 00:21:14.632
Jesus said, "I tell you, thethief and the extortionist and
00:21:14.665 --> 00:21:18.269
the traitor went homejustified before God,
00:21:18.302 --> 00:21:23.507
and not the other man."
00:21:23.541 --> 00:21:26.210
Not the man that kept the rulesand paid his tithes and knew the
00:21:26.243 --> 00:21:29.780
Scripture, but the thief wenthome, because, "Everyone who
00:21:29.814 --> 00:21:32.750
exalts himself will be humbledand he who humbles himself will
00:21:32.783 --> 00:21:35.486
be exalted."
00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:39.357
You want to give attention toyour heart, for my own sake, the
00:21:39.390 --> 00:21:44.862
condition of my heart requiresas much attention as weeding a
00:21:44.895 --> 00:21:48.399
flower bed or a garden, it's nota once-a-summer event.
00:21:48.432 --> 00:21:53.838
If you don't give attention toit on a daily basis, if you
00:21:53.871 --> 00:21:57.041
ignore it for three or four daysyou'll get so far behind it's
00:21:57.074 --> 00:21:59.343
almost impossible to catch up.
00:21:59.377 --> 00:22:02.113
Give attention to the conditionof your heart, don't let
00:22:02.146 --> 00:22:05.249
arrogance or pride orunforgiveness or resentment
00:22:05.282 --> 00:22:07.752
or bitterness orself-righteousness,
00:22:07.785 --> 00:22:09.687
you can't afford for themto flourish there.
00:22:09.720 --> 00:22:13.591
Understand thatself-righteousness, there's a
00:22:13.624 --> 00:22:15.793
tenacity to it, there's anaggressiveness in the way it
00:22:15.826 --> 00:22:21.098
will creep back into your life.
00:22:21.132 --> 00:22:23.768
I don't want it, I don't wannahave tolerate it.
00:22:23.801 --> 00:22:28.172
Allen Jackson: One of thebreakthroughs that came in my
00:22:28.205 --> 00:22:29.840
spiritual life and growth iswhen I realized that I was not
00:22:29.874 --> 00:22:33.244
going to out-study evil.
00:22:33.277 --> 00:22:35.012
I like to learn, I like to learnthe information, get the facts,
00:22:35.045 --> 00:22:39.083
I could have been a professionalstudent, but we're not going
00:22:39.116 --> 00:22:42.453
out-study evil, weneed God's help.
00:22:42.486 --> 00:22:45.022
That's why the person of theHoly Spirit is so integral to
00:22:45.055 --> 00:22:47.958
our spiritual development andthe freedom in which we want to
00:22:47.992 --> 00:22:50.628
live, he's our teacher, he's ourguide, "He will make known to
00:22:50.661 --> 00:22:54.732
us," Jesus said, "What Jesus hasaccomplished for us with his
00:22:54.765 --> 00:22:58.269
redemptive work."
00:22:58.302 --> 00:22:59.770
If the Holy Spirit has been alittle outside of your comfort
00:22:59.804 --> 00:23:02.706
zone or your spiritualawareness, there are some simple
00:23:02.740 --> 00:23:05.309
things, you can, we can justbegin to say, "Holy Spirit, help
00:23:05.342 --> 00:23:07.511
me, give me listening ears andeyes to see your receptive
00:23:07.545 --> 00:23:10.781
heart," he will cooperatewith us.
00:23:10.815 --> 00:23:13.284
Wherever we exalt Jesus, theHoly Spirit is there to help us,
00:23:13.317 --> 00:23:18.022
we're gonna ask for supernaturalhelp in understanding God's
00:23:18.055 --> 00:23:21.625
provision for the victories thatwe need in our life today, God
00:23:21.659 --> 00:23:25.529
is our deliverer, not aninstitution, not a pastor, not a
00:23:25.563 --> 00:23:29.166
denomination, God is ourdeliverer and the Holy Spirit
00:23:29.200 --> 00:23:32.269
is our helper.
00:23:32.303 --> 00:23:33.604
Let's pray.
00:23:33.637 --> 00:23:34.939
Father, I thank you for yourWord, for the truth that it
00:23:34.972 --> 00:23:36.774
brings to us.
00:23:36.807 --> 00:23:38.209
I thank you for what Jesus hasaccomplished for us with his
00:23:38.242 --> 00:23:41.145
redemptive work, but I'm mostgrateful for the Holy Spirit who
00:23:41.178 --> 00:23:45.115
resides within us, to help us,to direct us, to strengthen us.
00:23:45.149 --> 00:23:49.653
Lord, we present ourselves todayas living sacrifices, may we
00:23:49.687 --> 00:23:52.289
have listening ears andreceptive hearts to all the
00:23:52.323 --> 00:23:55.192
truth that we need for thefreedom in this season today.
00:23:55.226 --> 00:23:59.263
I thank you for what you'll do,in Jesus's name, amen.
00:23:59.296 --> 00:24:03.334
God Bless you, andyou keep listening.
00:24:03.367 --> 00:24:06.470
♪♪♪
00:24:06.504 --> 00:24:12.943
Allen Jackson: I can tell youthis, that Christianity has been
00:24:12.977 --> 00:24:14.979
the single most profoundinfluence in shaping the values,
00:24:15.012 --> 00:24:18.215
the course and the direction ofour nation, and I believe
00:24:18.249 --> 00:24:21.819
because of our faith we havebeen uniquely blessed by God.
00:24:21.852 --> 00:24:26.190
Now our nation is not perfect,but if we neglect or set aside
00:24:26.223 --> 00:24:29.426
the value sets which spawned ourfreedoms, I assure you our
00:24:29.460 --> 00:24:32.830
freedoms will not persist.
00:24:32.863 --> 00:24:35.799
Allen Jackson: Our nation is ata crossroads, it's a line of
00:24:35.833 --> 00:24:38.202
demarcation, we're gonna choosea direction very soon, and it's
00:24:38.235 --> 00:24:40.771
not about an election.
00:24:40.804 --> 00:24:42.339
I believe what's in front of usis as important as Gettysburg is
00:24:42.373 --> 00:24:45.776
proven to be in our history, weneed a God perspective.
00:24:45.809 --> 00:24:48.812
The challenge that we face isn'tabout the depravity of the
00:24:48.846 --> 00:24:51.248
wicked, the great challenge weface is the indifference of the
00:24:51.282 --> 00:24:54.418
faithful, we've got to havea heart change.
00:24:54.451 --> 00:24:57.688
Well, I worked for several weeksand put together some lessons
00:24:57.721 --> 00:25:00.624
that I've shared with our churchand I want to share them with
00:25:00.658 --> 00:25:02.359
you, we put them in a book,"God Bless America Again."
00:25:02.393 --> 00:25:05.296
There's no question God hasblessed this nation, he called
00:25:05.329 --> 00:25:07.831
us into existence and he hassustained us, what we will be in
00:25:07.865 --> 00:25:11.335
the future has more to do withthe hearts of God's people than
00:25:11.368 --> 00:25:14.238
a politician or a politicalparty or an election.
00:25:14.271 --> 00:25:17.041
We need a prophetic perspectivefrom God right now.
00:25:17.074 --> 00:25:20.611
Enjoy the book.
00:25:20.644 --> 00:25:22.012
male announcer: When donatingtoday, you'll receive Pastor
00:25:22.046 --> 00:25:24.248
Allen's sermon CD that discusseswhat it will take to bring
00:25:24.281 --> 00:25:27.585
healing to our nation.
00:25:27.618 --> 00:25:29.086
Plus, those who donate $25 ormore will also receive his new
00:25:29.119 --> 00:25:32.957
book, "God Bless America Again."
00:25:32.990 --> 00:25:35.759
So give today by calling...
00:25:35.793 --> 00:25:37.795
Or by visiting AllenJackson.com.
00:25:40.297 --> 00:25:43.300
Allen Jackson: So when we seepeople struggling with sin, the
00:25:46.704 --> 00:25:49.239
goal isn't to be tolerant andsay, "Oh, it doesn't matter."
00:25:49.273 --> 00:25:52.509
It does matter, it will destroyyou but there is a way out of
00:25:52.543 --> 00:25:57.948
it, it doesn't have to hold youin bondage.
00:25:57.982 --> 00:26:01.619
But we'll have to humbleourselves enough to say,
00:26:01.652 --> 00:26:03.520
"I choose God's way,I'll choose God's pathway,"
00:26:03.554 --> 00:26:06.757
and we've been reluctant.
00:26:06.790 --> 00:26:09.627
Sin is proliferating becausewe've been reluctant to speak
00:26:09.660 --> 00:26:12.863
the truth.
00:26:12.896 --> 00:26:16.367
male announcer: Join us everyweek for another exciting
00:26:16.400 --> 00:26:18.435
message fromPastor Allen Jackson.
00:26:18.469 --> 00:26:20.604
And until then, visit us onlineand discover remarkable
00:26:20.638 --> 00:26:24.141
information and resources tohelp take your Christian life
00:26:24.174 --> 00:26:27.745
to the next level.
00:26:27.778 --> 00:26:29.146
And when you visit online,consider joining our effort to
00:26:29.179 --> 00:26:31.849
continue sending this powerfuland challenging message around
00:26:31.882 --> 00:26:35.152
the globe; we want to share thisprogram worldwide, but we can
00:26:35.185 --> 00:26:39.123
only do it with your help,so consider partnering
00:26:39.156 --> 00:26:42.059
with us today.
00:26:42.092 --> 00:26:43.460
And if you're visiting theNashville area, we'd love to see
00:26:43.494 --> 00:26:46.230
you at World Outreach Church inMurfreesboro.
00:26:46.263 --> 00:26:49.033
We're easy to find, so lookus up when you're
00:26:49.066 --> 00:26:50.834
traveling through.
00:26:50.868 --> 00:26:52.169
And don't forget to connect withPastor Jackson every day
00:26:52.202 --> 00:26:54.371
through social media.
00:26:54.405 --> 00:26:56.473
Thanks so much for joining usand being a part of this
00:26:56.507 --> 00:26:58.642
ministry, we'll see you againnext time for another encounter
00:26:58.676 --> 00:27:01.912
with Pastor Allen Jackson.
00:27:01.945 --> 00:27:04.381

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