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Do Not Be Deceived Part 2

Allen Jackson Ministries

February 18, 2021

27:29

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

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Do Not Be Deceived Part 2

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Allen Jackson: But Jesus is nota guru, he's not a dispenser of
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wisdom, he's not just a wiseman, he's not just the founder
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of a religion, he's not just amiracle worker or a healer or a
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sage or a provider for you whenyou're in a desperate place.
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He is the Son of God and theSavior of the world, and it's
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important to understand thedifference.
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♪♪♪
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Allen Jackson: It's good to bewith you again.
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We're gonna complete the studywe began on "Don't Be Deceived."
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But it's not a frighteningtime, it's an exciting time, we
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are growing up in our faith.
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Spiritual maturity has little todo with your age chronologically
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or even your tenure aroundchurch.
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It has to do with our spiritualmaturity, and in this season,
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God is growing up his church,he's purifying us.
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So if you've been a Christianfor a long time, it's an
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exciting season, there's a newgrowth spurt coming for us.
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If you're a new Christian,you've gotten into the journey
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at a dramatic time, an excitingtime.
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God is opening our hearts andour eyes to see and understand
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what he's doing in the earth.
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What a privilege we have to walkwith him through this critical
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point in human history.
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I want to encourage you not tolook at the darkness, don't give
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your attention and your focus tothe expressions of wickedness.
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Turn your attention to what yousee God doing, relate it over
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and over, celebrate it, givethanks to him.
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We have a greater opportunityfor the proclamation of the
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gospel than in any time in humanhistory, and the King is
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preparing to come.
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What a privilege you and I havefor this season.
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Grab your Bible, open yourheart, God's got a lesson for us
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today, I believe it'll be ablessing.
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Allen Jackson: How deceptionenters, how does it come into
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our life?
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What makes us so vulnerable?
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Why is deception such apersistent problem?
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In century after century,culture after culture, doesn't
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seem to matter what point intime or history.
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What is it?
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Well, there's one primary doorthat's identified in Scripture.
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You wanna guess?
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What makes us so vulnerable todeception?
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It's pride, pride.
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Behind all deception, I wouldsubmit to you, is pride; it
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opens us up to deception.
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The great deceiver, Lucifer, wasan archangel, many scholars
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would suggest the most beautifuland the wisest of all
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the angels.
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He had authority and power inthe kingdom of God, and in his
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pride, he led a rebellion.
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It's almost unimaginable.
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His pride led to rebellion andit ended in deception.
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It was a very, he found himselfso deceived that he led a
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rebellion that wasn't going tosucceed.
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If it happened to an archangel,may I humbly submit, we should
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all be cautious?
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Now, you see expressions of thisif you pay just a bit
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of attention.
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The attraction of almost anycult, of any false religion, and
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I'm not talking about thingsthat you identify as wicked, I
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mean deviations of Christianitythat take you away from the
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redemptive work of Jesus.
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The attraction, principally, isjoin us and you'll be a part of
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the supergroup; it appeals toour pride.
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Well, I'd like to be a part ofthe supergroup.
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People in these perspectivesoften will say, "Well the church
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has been a little ineffective, alittle misguided, but if you
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join our group you'll be moreright than everybody else."
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See, the lie, the first liewhich Satan turned on the human
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race, is you can be like God,you can know right and wrong,
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you can be the arbiter.
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Folks, we are the sheep of hispasture, it's why listening is
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the primary characteristic ofthe people of God in
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every generation.
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And if you've imagined that yourtheological system was so tight,
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so perfected that you need notlisten any further, you're
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already deceived.
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Beware of anybody that tells youthere's a group that has gone
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further than any of the others,and when you hear that, they're
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typically critical of thepreceding generations
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of Christians.
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What arrogance.
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Do you know the tremendoussacrifice that has been paid for
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you and I to be able to embraceour Christian faith today?
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The tremendous sacrifices thathave been made so that we could
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have the Word of God?
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That the Jesus story would betold from generation to
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generation to generation?
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We are the inheritors of asacred trust, how dare us talk
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about our faith in terms ofcomfort and convenience.
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How dare us be more concernedabout our children learning
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athletics than learning to fearthe Lord and to understand how
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to hear the voice of his Spirit.
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What has come over us?
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How have we become so sleepy, sodisinterested, so groggy?
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The Lord is awakening us.
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Any group that says to you, "Tobe correct, you have to join
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us," you can know one thing forcertain.
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If you join them, you're wrong,'cause correctness doesn't lie
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in any single group.
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Now, Jesus has chosen a group,how many of you'd like to be
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a part?
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Me too.
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Well, it's not a supergroup, I'mgonna warn you, and only Jesus
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would've chosen a group likethis.
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But they're described for us inthe Scripture; see if you can
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pick out where your name shouldgo.
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It's 1 Corinthians chapter 1, inverse 26, "Brothers, think of
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what you were when you werecalled."
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Do you know God called you?
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So he called you before yourdrew your first breath, he
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called you when you were stillin your mother's womb, it's why
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we stand for those littlepeople.
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"Think of what you were when youwere called.
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Not many of you were wise byhuman standards; not many were
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influential; not many were ofnoble birth.
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But God chose the foolish thingsof the world to shame the
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wise; he
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chose the weak things of theworld to shame the strong.
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He chose the lowlythings of this
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world and the despised things--
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and the things that are not-- tonullify the things that are, so
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that no one may boast beforehim.
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It's because of him that youare in Christ Jesus, who has
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become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness,
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holiness and redemption."
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What makes us righteous?
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Jesus.
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What brings holiness to us?
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Jesus.
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What's the source of ourredemption?
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Jesus.
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To be one of God's chosen peopleyou gotta be in that list.
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That means you gotta be weak,foolish, lowly, based, despised.
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[congregation applauding]
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So if you're listening to thisand you think, I'm too broken to
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be one of the only-- come on in,man, we got room for one more.
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There's no boasting inourselves, we need to get over
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ourselves a little bit.
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You see, it's our compassion forpeople that motivates us to
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share our Jesus story, not ourarrogance.
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Now there's one more component,let's unpack this one at least.
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The topic is deception and howto avoid it.
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And there's a toxic combinationof your flesh, your carnal self,
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that part of us that isunredeemed; your spirit's born
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again, made alive to God, butyour old earthly nature, fed by
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your emotions and your thoughts,that carnal part of us, combined
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with deceiving spirits that arepresent in the earth is a
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significant doorway to deceptionin our lives.
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Ephesians chapter 4, verse 11,it says, "It was he who gave
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some to be apostles, some to beprophets, and some to be
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evangelists, and some to bepastors, and teachers, to
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prepare God's people for worksof service, so that the body of
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Christ may be built up until weall reach unity in the faith and
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in the knowledge of the son ofGod and become mature, attaining
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to the whole measure of thefullness of Christ."
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Now, the objective is thematuring of the body of Christ,
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and it's worth noting thatmaturity comes in community.
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It's not a trick to get you tocome to church, you can sit in
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church and not grow up just likeyou can sit in the gym and not
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get healthy.
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But it's hard to get healthierif you don't ever find where
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there's the equipment to helpyou or the experience to help
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you or the expertise to helpyou, and you will not reach
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maturity alone, we need oneanother.
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Not my idea, it's biblical, soif you don't like it, get mad
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at God.
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But it clearly tells us thatGod's provision for his church,
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for his people, now Jesus is thehead of the church, but he has
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put in place in the church somethings to help us mature.
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It said he's given us apostles,prophets, evangelists, and
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pastors and teachers; some willtake pastor-teacher and
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hyphenate it, some separate it,doesn't matter to me.
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So those gifts exist in thechurch and you can't logically
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or rationally from a biblicalbasis say, "Well, I believe in
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pastors but I don't believe inprophets, or I believe in
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teachers but I don't believe inapostles," 'cause they're all
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presented to us in the sameplace for the same purpose.
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For the church to have thestrength we need, and to
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accomplish our mission, we willneed those fivefold ministry
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gifts in play in the church.
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Now we need to understand whatthey are.
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Your definition or what Grandmathought may not be fully
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accurate, and I'll tell you,everyone who calls himself a
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pastor doesn't necessarily carefor and strengthen the flock.
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I'm not throwing stones atanybody, that's just reality.
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In the same way, everybody thatcalls himself an apostle, or
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calls himself a prophet isn'tnecessarily standing in that
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place called by God, they justgot business cards printed.
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Labels and titles don'tguarantee authenticity.
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That's just factual, and youneed to be aware and not naive.
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Sometimes, as Christians, wecheck our brains in the
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parking lot.
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Please don't do that.
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male announcer: You know, one ofthe great things about the Bible
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is you don't need to have theknowledge of a Jeopardy champ to
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be able to jump in.
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Just a quick review of the storyand boom, you're right there
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with it.
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And sometimes it's those of uswho think we know everything
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about God's story that are theones who really need the review.
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So as a way to help all of us,we're gonna recap the entire
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story so far in under 60seconds.
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Sixty seconds, you say?
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Impossible!
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To which I say, well maybe, butlet's give this a shot.
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Okay.
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Go!
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The story starts at thebeginning of the whole
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enchilada, when God spoke theuniverse into existence,
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including creating the world'sfirst man and woman.
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At first life was perfect, butsoon after, these folks and
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their kids and grandkids decidedthey didn't want to live the way
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God had told them to.
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And pretty much everybody onearth got into some kind of evil
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or another.
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So God decided to hit the resetbutton and wiped out all of
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earth with a flood, except for aman named Noah and his family.
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The population started to growagain, and eventually God chose
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a group of people to start a newnation called Israel.
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Israel went through some prettyrough stuff early on, like bein'
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slaves in Egypt.
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But eventually God rescued themand brought them into a giant
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piece of land God had promisedto them.
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Later, God raised up a kingnamed David to rule Israel.
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David was an amazing guy,helping people live the way
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God wanted.
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The people of Israel were unitedand living at peace.
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But when David's son, Solomon,became king, he sorta forgot
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about God and started to worshipother gods.
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As you can imagine, that wasabout to spell great trouble,
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not only for Solomon but for allof Israel.
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Allen Jackson: Hey, the truthis, the Bible is intimidating.
00:12:38.279 --> 00:12:40.314
66 books written over a longperiod of time, dozens of
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authors, different cultures,words we don't know how to
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pronounce, places we don't knowwhere they are, and we're
00:12:46.287 --> 00:12:48.989
supposed to understand it.
00:12:48.989 --> 00:12:50.524
Most of us have just given up.
00:12:50.524 --> 00:12:52.560
Well I built a tool to help.
00:12:52.560 --> 00:12:54.061
It starts with the timeline, 12points that'll arrange the whole
00:12:54.061 --> 00:12:57.331
Bible for you in a chronologicalway, so you'll know where
00:12:57.331 --> 00:12:59.733
Abraham fits in relation toIsaiah, it'll help you.
00:12:59.733 --> 00:13:03.137
And I found some crazy talentedillustrators to do some
00:13:03.137 --> 00:13:05.639
whiteboard drawings along withit to make it not only
00:13:05.639 --> 00:13:08.309
accessible, it makes it kindafun.
00:13:08.309 --> 00:13:10.211
You can do it as an individualstudy, you can do it as a group,
00:13:10.211 --> 00:13:12.479
you can do with your kids oryour grandkids.
00:13:12.479 --> 00:13:14.181
You can get your softball teamtogether and do it, you can get
00:13:14.181 --> 00:13:16.150
your neighbors around a kitchentable.
00:13:16.150 --> 00:13:18.018
Hey, churches are struggling abit.
00:13:18.018 --> 00:13:19.587
You're the church, you and yourBible, open your heart.
00:13:19.587 --> 00:13:22.022
It's "The Whiteboard Bible,"it'll be a blessing.
00:13:22.022 --> 00:13:26.060
female announcer: "TheWhiteboard Bible" makes the
00:13:26.060 --> 00:13:27.461
Bible easy for anyone tounderstand.
00:13:27.461 --> 00:13:30.130
And for those who donate $100 ormore, you can request the
00:13:30.130 --> 00:13:33.734
complete set: that includesthree DVDs with fun
00:13:33.734 --> 00:13:36.971
illustrations, and threeguidebooks.
00:13:36.971 --> 00:13:39.340
Also available for all who givetoday is a sermon DVD from
00:13:39.340 --> 00:13:42.743
Pastor Allen, where heemphasizes the importance of
00:13:42.743 --> 00:13:45.813
knowing your Bible.
00:13:45.813 --> 00:13:47.147
Call...or visitAllenJackson.com.
00:13:47.147 --> 00:13:52.753
That's...
00:13:52.753 --> 00:13:56.757
Allen Jackson: There's just somepractical issues around this
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that we need to unpack for amoment or two, how error can
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enter our lives through peopleunder the guise of those labels.
00:14:06.133 --> 00:14:11.171
After all, prophecy'shigh-sounding stuff, how could
00:14:11.171 --> 00:14:15.876
you act against something thatsomeone said to you and tagged
00:14:15.876 --> 00:14:18.679
on, "Thus saith the Lord?"
00:14:18.679 --> 00:14:21.916
The primary purpose of prophecyin Scripture isn't to foretell
00:14:21.916 --> 00:14:25.786
the future, it's to give us anaccurate perspective of how God
00:14:25.786 --> 00:14:30.224
sees the circumstance.
00:14:30.224 --> 00:14:32.693
If you'll go back through theprophets and read it with that
00:14:32.693 --> 00:14:34.828
viewpoint, it will be eminentlyhelpful.
00:14:34.828 --> 00:14:38.065
Now, does the Spirit of God giveit application to the future?
00:14:38.065 --> 00:14:40.701
Yes, he does, but there's a veryfine line between biblical
00:14:40.701 --> 00:14:44.772
prophecy and fortune telling,and one is directed by the
00:14:44.772 --> 00:14:48.809
Spirit of God and one is not.
00:14:48.809 --> 00:14:52.246
God doesn't promise to reveal toyou everything about your
00:14:52.246 --> 00:14:54.748
future; if you knew, it wouldn'tbe helpful.
00:14:54.748 --> 00:14:57.284
And if you have a desire to knowand you spend your time seeking
00:14:57.284 --> 00:15:00.054
it, it's a high degree ofprobability you'll end up in the
00:15:00.054 --> 00:15:02.690
occult and filled withdeception.
00:15:02.690 --> 00:15:06.026
So it's not an easy thing.
00:15:06.026 --> 00:15:07.361
And that combination of ourcarnal self and deceiving
00:15:07.361 --> 00:15:10.297
spirits makes us vulnerable, sothe Bible gives us
00:15:10.297 --> 00:15:13.133
some safeguards.
00:15:13.133 --> 00:15:14.468
1 Corinthians 14:29, it says,"Two or three prophets should
00:15:14.468 --> 00:15:16.770
speak, and the other shouldweigh carefully what is said."
00:15:16.770 --> 00:15:21.475
1 Thessalonians 5:19, "Don'tquench the Spirit; don't despise
00:15:21.475 --> 00:15:25.946
prophetic utterances."
00:15:25.946 --> 00:15:27.381
You need to hear that, becauseonce you've been burned by some
00:15:27.381 --> 00:15:30.417
people using the name of theLord in destructive ways, you're
00:15:30.417 --> 00:15:33.253
gonna think, "I'm just gonnapush the whole thing into the
00:15:33.253 --> 00:15:35.022
rubbish heap."
00:15:35.022 --> 00:15:37.124
But the Bible says we can'tdespise it, we need God's
00:15:37.124 --> 00:15:39.860
perspective on where we are,somebody has to tell us the
00:15:39.860 --> 00:15:42.863
truth; the truth is the antidotefor deception.
00:15:42.863 --> 00:15:47.234
So prophetic messages shouldn'talways just be encouraging,
00:15:47.234 --> 00:15:49.603
happy things about promotionsand good hair days.
00:15:49.603 --> 00:15:56.043
Anybody who participates inprophecy has to be willing to
00:15:56.043 --> 00:15:59.113
be judged.
00:15:59.113 --> 00:16:00.681
Now what's the standard we judgeby?
00:16:00.681 --> 00:16:02.282
How you feel about it?
00:16:02.282 --> 00:16:03.617
If it suits your preference forthe future?
00:16:03.617 --> 00:16:06.420
No, Isaiah 8:19, gives us aclue, "What they to say,
00:16:06.420 --> 00:16:09.456
'Consult the mediums andspiritists who whisper and
00:16:09.456 --> 00:16:12.426
mutter,' should not a peopleconsult their God?"
00:16:12.426 --> 00:16:14.995
Isaiah's saying why do you go tosources other than God to get
00:16:14.995 --> 00:16:18.499
information about the future?
00:16:18.499 --> 00:16:19.867
I'd put the question to you.
00:16:19.867 --> 00:16:22.002
Why do you read horoscopes?
00:16:22.002 --> 00:16:24.471
Why do you play with ouijaboards?
00:16:24.471 --> 00:16:26.040
Why do you go to fortunetellers?
00:16:26.040 --> 00:16:29.843
Why do you use systems otherthan God to anticipate
00:16:29.843 --> 00:16:33.113
the future?
00:16:33.113 --> 00:16:34.481
The answer is, it's not the HolySpirit, and if you've been
00:16:34.481 --> 00:16:37.317
involved in it, no matter whoblessed it or how religious it
00:16:37.317 --> 00:16:40.087
may be or if it was put underthe umbrella of Christianity,
00:16:40.087 --> 00:16:43.590
you need to renounce it.
00:16:43.590 --> 00:16:45.692
Repent, renounce, it'll bringfreedom to you.
00:16:45.692 --> 00:16:51.265
Where was I?
00:16:51.265 --> 00:16:52.599
"Should not a peopleconsult their God?
00:16:52.599 --> 00:16:55.069
Should they consult the dead onbehalf of the living?"
00:16:55.069 --> 00:16:57.538
Seances.
00:16:57.538 --> 00:17:01.442
"To the law and to thetestimony.
00:17:01.442 --> 00:17:03.811
If they don't speak according tothis word, it is because they
00:17:03.811 --> 00:17:06.780
have no light."
00:17:06.780 --> 00:17:08.982
We judge what is spoken by theWord of God.
00:17:08.982 --> 00:17:14.021
Now let me add another piece tothis, 'cause we talk about those
00:17:14.021 --> 00:17:16.290
five-fold ministry gifts, itimpacts us, it impacts the world
00:17:16.290 --> 00:17:20.360
in which we live, the systems inwhich we participate.
00:17:20.360 --> 00:17:25.165
And one idea that has provenhelpful to me is that spiritual
00:17:25.165 --> 00:17:28.469
leadership needs to be inproportion to the faith of
00:17:28.469 --> 00:17:31.438
the individual.
00:17:31.438 --> 00:17:34.074
And in Greek, faith andfaithfulness
00:17:34.074 --> 00:17:37.778
are interchangeable.
00:17:37.778 --> 00:17:39.646
They seem different to us, faithseems like some mystical
00:17:39.646 --> 00:17:42.616
formula, and faithfulness issomething else, but in the
00:17:42.616 --> 00:17:46.053
wording of the New Testamentthey are interchangeable.
00:17:46.053 --> 00:17:48.856
If you want to know a person offaith, you'll need to know a
00:17:48.856 --> 00:17:50.958
faithful person, you can't be aperson of faith and not be a
00:17:50.958 --> 00:17:53.227
faithful person.
00:17:53.227 --> 00:17:56.830
In Romans 12, in verse 6, itsays, "We have different gifts,
00:17:56.830 --> 00:17:59.433
according to the grace given us.
00:17:59.433 --> 00:18:01.535
If a man's gift is prophesying,let him use it in proportion to
00:18:01.535 --> 00:18:05.139
his faith."
00:18:05.139 --> 00:18:07.307
A helpful little idea for you,for all of us is not to go
00:18:07.307 --> 00:18:12.312
beyond our faith or ourfaithfulness.
00:18:12.312 --> 00:18:16.049
Serving the Lord can beemotional, whether it's
00:18:16.049 --> 00:18:21.121
prophesying or teaching orleading or whatever gifting
00:18:21.121 --> 00:18:25.225
you may have.
00:18:25.225 --> 00:18:26.760
And you may aspire to something,you may have a ambition within
00:18:26.760 --> 00:18:30.430
you that is motivating for that.
00:18:30.430 --> 00:18:32.599
And ambition isn't evil butambition has to be yielded to
00:18:32.599 --> 00:18:35.169
the Lord, selfish ambition isdestructive.
00:18:35.169 --> 00:18:39.173
And if you combine the awarenessof godly things and our carnal
00:18:39.173 --> 00:18:43.076
nature, it's easy to haveambition that goes beyond the
00:18:43.076 --> 00:18:46.613
place of our faithfulness, andit puts us in destructive,
00:18:46.613 --> 00:18:51.818
vulnerable places.
00:18:51.818 --> 00:18:54.588
Stay within your allottedproportion of faith.
00:18:54.588 --> 00:18:58.158
Now you can grow in your faith,your faith can be strengthened.
00:18:58.158 --> 00:19:01.828
Watch the disciples through theGospels into the book of Acts,
00:19:01.828 --> 00:19:05.365
watch them grow in their faith,listen to your heroes in the
00:19:05.365 --> 00:19:08.635
Old Testament.
00:19:08.635 --> 00:19:10.003
David, when he hears Goliathbellow his challenge and the
00:19:10.003 --> 00:19:12.072
bravest, most effective warriorsin Israelite Army are hiding in
00:19:12.072 --> 00:19:17.311
their tents, and little shepherdkid rolls in and says, "I can
00:19:17.311 --> 00:19:20.480
take him."
00:19:20.480 --> 00:19:23.050
And when he's interrogated aboutit, remember what he said?
00:19:23.050 --> 00:19:26.086
He said, "He's challenged thearmies of the living God."
00:19:26.086 --> 00:19:29.823
He didn't challenge the army isSaul, he called God out.
00:19:29.823 --> 00:19:36.597
And he said I had an assignmentto care for my father's flocks,
00:19:36.597 --> 00:19:40.200
that if a bear came against theflock, I took the lamb away and
00:19:40.200 --> 00:19:44.037
killed the bear.
00:19:44.037 --> 00:19:46.039
And if a lion came and took alamb, I took the lamb back and
00:19:46.039 --> 00:19:48.742
killed the lion.
00:19:48.742 --> 00:19:50.777
And this clown's no differentthan the lion or the bear.
00:19:50.777 --> 00:19:55.682
He didn't wait to figure out howhis sling worked when he heard
00:19:55.682 --> 00:19:58.218
Goliath start to speak.
00:19:58.218 --> 00:20:01.154
You wanna strengthen yourfaithfulness to the Lord.
00:20:01.154 --> 00:20:09.763
We have to let go of this notionthat, "I'm mature 'cause I can
00:20:09.763 --> 00:20:13.500
spell the 12 tribes of Israel intheir original language."
00:20:13.500 --> 00:20:17.571
Now I'm an advocate forknowledge, spent most of my life
00:20:17.571 --> 00:20:21.642
studying and hope to continue todo so, but we want to grow in
00:20:21.642 --> 00:20:26.413
our faithfulness to him.
00:20:26.413 --> 00:20:28.782
Can you be trusted in the placewhere you stand?
00:20:28.782 --> 00:20:31.852
Are you trustworthy in all ofthe circles of influence God has
00:20:31.852 --> 00:20:35.188
given to you?
00:20:35.188 --> 00:20:37.357
Or are you just trustworthy inattendance?
00:20:37.357 --> 00:20:42.095
You see, grow in yourfaithfulness and then we can
00:20:42.095 --> 00:20:44.364
become conduits for all that Godwants to do; but be aware when
00:20:44.364 --> 00:20:50.170
you listen, be aware when youfollow, pay attention.
00:20:50.170 --> 00:20:54.541
I'll give you one example, I'mabout done, there's hope.
00:20:54.541 --> 00:20:57.711
Acts 16, Paul and his team,"Once we were going to the place
00:20:57.711 --> 00:21:02.182
of prayer, we were met by aslave girl who had a spirit by
00:21:02.182 --> 00:21:05.852
which she predicted the future."
00:21:05.852 --> 00:21:08.522
She has an unclean spirit, ademonic spirit that enables her
00:21:08.522 --> 00:21:11.758
to predict the future and withenough accuracy that she's
00:21:11.758 --> 00:21:14.594
producing a significant income.
00:21:14.594 --> 00:21:18.932
Did you know that spirits haveawareness that you don't have?
00:21:18.932 --> 00:21:22.469
You see, some of us are stillstuck arguing over whether
00:21:22.469 --> 00:21:24.371
there's unclean spirits.
00:21:24.371 --> 00:21:28.508
Spirits have information andinsight and understanding that
00:21:28.508 --> 00:21:30.811
often we don't have, so you'llhear something you think, well
00:21:30.811 --> 00:21:34.481
that's true, but it doesn'tnecessarily mean it's the
00:21:34.481 --> 00:21:36.383
Holy Spirit.
00:21:36.383 --> 00:21:39.219
"She earned a great deal ofmoney for her owners
00:21:39.219 --> 00:21:41.088
by fortune-telling.
00:21:41.088 --> 00:21:42.956
The girl followed Paul and therest of us, shouting, 'These men
00:21:42.956 --> 00:21:46.693
are servants of the Most HighGod, who are telling you the way
00:21:46.693 --> 00:21:49.329
to be saved.'"
00:21:49.329 --> 00:21:51.398
That's a pretty good label, mostof you would be content with
00:21:51.398 --> 00:21:56.069
that message on your desk:"Servant of the Most High God, I
00:21:56.069 --> 00:22:00.741
can tell you how to be saved."
00:22:00.741 --> 00:22:03.810
In fact, she's the first personin Philippi to recognize that,
00:22:03.810 --> 00:22:07.180
there are no converts yet.
00:22:07.180 --> 00:22:11.385
"She kept this up for many days.
00:22:11.385 --> 00:22:14.488
Finally, Paul became so troubledthat he turned around and said
00:22:14.488 --> 00:22:17.190
to the spirit, 'In the name ofJesus Christ, I command you to
00:22:17.190 --> 00:22:20.327
come out of her.'
00:22:20.327 --> 00:22:22.329
And at that moment, the spiritleft her."
00:22:22.329 --> 00:22:24.798
Now some of you know the rest ofthe story.
00:22:24.798 --> 00:22:27.868
When the owners of the slavegirl discover that they've lost
00:22:27.868 --> 00:22:30.604
their golden goose they're veryunhappy with Paul, but it's the
00:22:30.604 --> 00:22:37.310
circumstances before that Ithink, that are most helpful
00:22:37.310 --> 00:22:39.613
to me.
00:22:39.613 --> 00:22:40.981
Every word that we have thatthat woman said was true, it was
00:22:40.981 --> 00:22:46.219
the truth, but it wasn't theSpirit of God.
00:22:46.219 --> 00:22:52.392
It's very clear in the context,it was a divining spirit, a
00:22:52.392 --> 00:22:55.796
fortune-telling spirit.
00:22:55.796 --> 00:22:57.998
Most of us, I suspect,confronted with somebody, if we
00:22:57.998 --> 00:23:00.634
were on a missions journey or wewent into a new office or some
00:23:00.634 --> 00:23:03.870
new settings of people and wefound somebody that would make
00:23:03.870 --> 00:23:06.173
that declaration over us, wewould make them first chair at
00:23:06.173 --> 00:23:10.610
the table, founding members.
00:23:10.610 --> 00:23:17.017
After all, they've got atremendous grasp of the truth.
00:23:17.017 --> 00:23:21.588
We need discernment, we needthose multiple coordinates
00:23:21.588 --> 00:23:29.863
because the best deceptionbegins with a part of the truth
00:23:29.863 --> 00:23:34.968
and almost every deceivingspirit has some truth, and we're
00:23:34.968 --> 00:23:40.507
gonna have to be moresophisticated.
00:23:40.507 --> 00:23:43.176
Well Pastor, I don't really likethis, this sounds like hard
00:23:43.176 --> 00:23:45.378
work, can't you just tell me thetwo verses I need to memorize so
00:23:45.378 --> 00:23:51.117
I can go to heaven?
00:23:51.117 --> 00:23:52.452
I just don't like to think aboutall the spiritual stuff.
00:23:52.452 --> 00:23:55.856
Bless your heart.
00:23:55.856 --> 00:23:59.159
In all honesty, I understand thefeeling, and there may have been
00:23:59.159 --> 00:24:02.996
a time and a place whenChristianity was such a
00:24:02.996 --> 00:24:04.898
pervasive influence in ourculture that you could find a
00:24:04.898 --> 00:24:08.468
way to flourish on the blessingsof generations who had preceded
00:24:08.468 --> 00:24:11.438
you, but we're not there anylonger.
00:24:11.438 --> 00:24:16.209
And if our children andgrandchildren are gonna know
00:24:16.209 --> 00:24:18.044
truth and live with freedom,it's gonna require greater
00:24:18.044 --> 00:24:21.915
discernment from us.
00:24:21.915 --> 00:24:24.351
We have labored beneathdeception for far too long.
00:24:24.351 --> 00:24:29.556
See, the point of the cross, thebeauty of the redemptive work of
00:24:29.556 --> 00:24:33.660
Jesus is, no matter in which waysin or ungodliness or wickedness
00:24:33.660 --> 00:24:38.899
has touched your life, you cannot only be delivered from it,
00:24:38.899 --> 00:24:42.035
you can be redeemed.
00:24:42.035 --> 00:24:44.504
That is the good news of thegospel, it's why we love Jesus,
00:24:44.504 --> 00:24:50.110
it's why we advocate for him.
00:24:50.110 --> 00:24:51.444
It's not 'cause we're bored onSunday mornings and we need a
00:24:51.444 --> 00:24:53.246
little side activity to make uspolite or tame, the church has
00:24:53.246 --> 00:24:57.217
not been called to be tame, andit's not polite to follow
00:24:57.217 --> 00:25:00.987
the Lord.
00:25:00.987 --> 00:25:03.323
In fact, until you're desperateenough that you're willing to
00:25:03.323 --> 00:25:05.759
lose the facade of being polite,you won't follow him very far.
00:25:05.759 --> 00:25:11.565
But it is good news for everyonewho will receive the truth.
00:25:11.565 --> 00:25:16.069
Now, I wanna close, I wanna giveyou two verses of Scripture, and
00:25:16.069 --> 00:25:20.574
I'm going to ask you, I thinkthey can put them on the
00:25:20.574 --> 00:25:22.542
screens, we can say themtogether as a proclamation over
00:25:22.542 --> 00:25:25.045
ourselves, over our families,over our church, over our
00:25:25.045 --> 00:25:28.014
community, over our nation, overGod's purposes because we want
00:25:28.014 --> 00:25:34.220
the awakening to continue.
00:25:34.220 --> 00:25:37.190
We intend to participate withpeople from every nation, race,
00:25:37.190 --> 00:25:41.361
language, and tribe.
00:25:41.361 --> 00:25:43.196
Wherever God gives us theopportunity to stand with those
00:25:43.196 --> 00:25:45.966
who are saying yes to him inthis season.
00:25:45.966 --> 00:25:49.069
Amen?
00:25:49.069 --> 00:25:51.071
Why don't you stand with me?
00:25:51.071 --> 00:25:53.573
Have you got the verses?
00:25:53.573 --> 00:25:55.075
Isaiah 45, in verse 8, verygood, let's read it together.
00:25:55.075 --> 00:25:58.778
"Your heavens above rain downrighteousness; let the clouds
00:25:58.778 --> 00:26:03.283
shower it down.
00:26:03.283 --> 00:26:04.951
Let the earth open wide, letsalvation spring up, let
00:26:04.951 --> 00:26:09.322
righteousness grow with it.
00:26:09.322 --> 00:26:11.358
I, the Lord, have created it."
00:26:11.358 --> 00:26:13.927
And now from Hosea chapter 10,in verse 12.
00:26:13.927 --> 00:26:16.830
"It is time to seek the Lord,until he comes and showers
00:26:16.830 --> 00:26:21.067
righteousness on you."
00:26:21.067 --> 00:26:22.802
Let's say that one again.
00:26:22.802 --> 00:26:24.437
"It is time to seek the Lord,until he comes and showers
00:26:24.437 --> 00:26:28.808
righteousness on you."
00:26:28.808 --> 00:26:31.411
male announcer: Join us everyweek for another exciting
00:26:31.411 --> 00:26:33.480
message from Pastor AllenJackson.
00:26:33.480 --> 00:26:35.649
And until then, visit us onlineand discover remarkable
00:26:35.649 --> 00:26:39.185
information and resources tohelp take your Christian life to
00:26:39.185 --> 00:26:42.789
the next level.
00:26:42.789 --> 00:26:44.290
And if you're visiting theNashville area, we'd love to see
00:26:44.290 --> 00:26:47.027
you at World Outreach Church inMurfreesboro.
00:26:47.027 --> 00:26:49.829
We're easy to find, so look usup when you're
00:26:49.829 --> 00:26:51.665
traveling through.
00:26:51.665 --> 00:26:52.999
And don't forget to connect withPastor Jackson every day through
00:26:52.999 --> 00:26:55.568
social media.
00:26:55.568 --> 00:26:57.437
Thanks so much for joining usand being a part of
00:26:57.437 --> 00:26:59.639
this ministry.
00:26:59.639 --> 00:27:00.974
We'll see you again next time,for another encounter with
00:27:00.974 --> 00:27:03.043
Pastor Allen Jackson.
00:27:03.043 --> 00:27:30.000

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Do Not Be Deceived Part 2

Do Not Be Deceived Part 2

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Do Not Be Deceived Part 2

Do Not Be Deceived Part 2

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