Thank you for joining Alan Jackson Ministries. Quite candidly, there will be a cost involved. Not everybody will appreciate your perspective. We see people who hold a very different worldview from our own with great determination taking their worldview and pushing it forward. And when there are tremendous financial costs, I don't hear coming from them apologies. I don't see them changing strategy.
I see them wagging an accusatory finger or a demeaning response towards those who don't agree with them. Surely we can at least have the courage that we see being demonstrated by those who hold a different worldview from our own.
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Should Christians talk about politics? What if we share our biblical worldview and it pushes people away? What does the Bible say about standing against ungodly leaders, policies, and governments? Pastor Allen's new book, Jesus, his followers, and politics answers all of these questions and more. He'll give you a biblical perspective on the chaos surrounding us and offer practical things we can do to make a difference. Request your book when you donate $25 or more today at alanjaxon.com
or by calling 855-5772255. That's 855-5772255. And thank you for coming alongside Alan Jackson Ministries with your prayers and financial support. Together, we're transforming lives with God's hope and truth.
We're so glad you're here to listen. Today's program is part one of Pastor Allen's message called spiritual warfare and the end times. Not my problem. Tune in tomorrow to hear part two. We've begun a new series in a previous session on spiritual warfare and the end times. Spiritual warfare and the end times. I added the end times because I think there's some things that spiritual warfare is a part of human existence on this planet. It goes all the way to the opening chapters of Genesis.
But as we approach the end of the age, there are some characteristics that the Bible tells us about so that we can be prepared that will become increasingly prevalent. So we're going to talk a bit about spiritual warfare and the implications of that for our lives, and then specifically as we approach the end of the age. For this session, the topic is not my problem.
And it's really the question I want to put before you. Do you have an imagination that you have a responsibility, an assignment, a role to play? Is it something to be endured? Do you just hope that you understand how to receive God's blessings? And if you don't pay any attention, perhaps it'll just be okay? I've kind of imagined this session as really basic training.
We're at the beginning of this little study, so if you'll bear with me, what I'd like to do is give you some fundamental components, some keys that really are essential to understanding biblically what's happening in our world, and then what our responses can be. My goal is not simply the exchange of information, or I would have stayed in universities. Our goal is to mobilize the body of Christ to respond with the truth that we know, to engage the world in which we live.
Church is not primarily about education and information. It's far more about mobilization. The true measure of the church is who we are when we're not here. You know, we come in here to be encouraged, to be strengthened, to provide some opportunities for our children, for all the things that come from those corporate gatherings. But the real measure of the church is our influence when we leave campus.
And so that's the goal of this series, and we'll look at some basic training components. Then I'll start really with the first, and it really has more to do with a set of questions I think about how you view the world and our faith. Do you imagine that our objective is avoidance, appeasement, apathy? Much of the church has been totally engulfed by this notion that our goal is to be tolerant, to be kind,
to not bring any division, to not bring any disruption. We want to be peacemakers. Well, I would submit to you both biblically and historically for what that's worth, that avoidance, appeasement, and apathy is not an effective strategy. Now, we're very clever at this, we church folk.
There's a line that I hear frequently. I seldom go through a week without someone saying this to me, whether it's in the context of what I do here or beyond here, but it'll be something like this. Well, the Bible tells us that before Jesus returns, things are gonna get really tough. There's nothing really we can do about that. We just need a strategy to survive. And in that expression of surrender,
They think they've imagined themselves, now my only goal is to focus on me and mine and manage managing to protect and extend my comfort and convenience for as long as I possibly can. Because after all, Jesus said things are going to get really rough. And so rather than be overcomers, we become overlookers. And we think our assignment everywhere we go is to make no waves.
Now, we're gonna try to evaluate that from a biblical perspective, but before I do that, I will tell you from just a brief review of history, it's a strategy for failure. Appeasement has been tried in some rather enthusiastic ways. I give you one example, Neville Chamberlain. Some of you will know who he is. He was a British Prime Minister that served the United Kingdom in the years approaching World War II.
It was in that window while Germany was rapidly expanding its power and its influence building up its military and as fascism was growing in Europe. And it was growing rapidly enough and powerful enough and it was looking with enough aggressiveness around the opportunities of Europe that all those observing it understood the threat and Chamberlain continually led his nation in the practice of capitulation and appeasement.
Now he excused it with some historical things. The Treaty of Versailles had been too harsh. They had compassion on the Germans. They'd been humiliated by the defeat of World War I. No one would imagine that they would want to face the horrors of another global conflict. I mean, there was a logic for the rationale. There always is. I find that cowards always have logic. We very seldom just walk up and say, I feel cowardly today.
Well, Chamberlain, even when as far as signing the Munich agreement in September of 1938, and I know most of you probably don't remember that. I'm sure you learned it and you passed the test. But it was an agreement with Germany. There were four nations that signed it. Germany had already occupied Austria. And in the Munich agreement,
The most influential voices in Europe gave them a significant portion of Czechoslovakia. They just surrendered the territory and the people who lived there to the Nazi party. They didn't ask their opinion. They wouldn't consider the opinion of the leaders of that nation when they signed the agreement. They just surrendered it away. And Chamberlain then had the brazen audacity to declare publicly, peace in our time.
as if he was the orchestrator of peace, not so much for the Czech people. You should also know that appeasement in that window of history was strongly supported by the British upper class and big business, the power brokers in London. It was supported by the House of Lords. It was supported broadly by the media at that time, the BBC.
The most powerful voices, the most influential people were all on board saying the best thing we can do is yield to our adversary. The government at that time practiced censorship, limited what was said in the media so that the general public would not be agitated by their policies. Censorship is not a new thing, but it's a real thing.
Chamberlain preferred, it's a matter of the historical record, Chamberlain preferred popularity to the challenges associated with confronting an adversary. Now I don't say that to be critical of him, I say that because it feels eerily similar to the posture that the church has held for quite a while. We're reluctant to embrace a biblical worldview. We're reluctant to acknowledge the principles of scripture. We prefer silence.
We're aware enough to understand that if we use our voice, are we there to cite a passage of scripture or a biblical principle that it could incur some responses? I believe we'll have to choose a new course, or we will lose our liberties and freedoms completely. I don't want you to be angry. I don't want you to be belligerent. I've told you many times you shouldn't be violent, but we have got to become more aware and more courageous regarding our faith.
Quite candidly, there will be a cost involved. Not everybody will appreciate your perspective. We see people who hold a very different worldview from our own with great determination taking their worldview and pushing it forward. And when there are tremendous financial costs, I don't hear coming from them apologies. I don't see them changing strategy. I see them wagging an accusatory finger or a demeaning response towards those who don't agree with them.
Surely we can at least have the courage that we see being demonstrated by those who hold a different worldview tomorrow. Thank you for listening to Alan Jackson Ministries. We'll be back to the message in just a moment. But first, Pastor Allen wants to tell you about his book, Jesus, His Followers and Politics.
Hey, I'm in Jerusalem tonight. It seemed like an appropriate place to tell you about a new book we've just completed. It's Jesus, His followers, and politics. You know, that's a hot button issue in the church in America these days. People say to me frequently, Jesus was not involved in politics.
Well, I agree up to a point. Jesus was not a part of a political party. He didn't advocate for a political candidate. But Jesus was very much involved in the events of the day in which he lived. He spoke to those in power. He spoke about those in power. That's a part of the New Testament narrative. And if you and I step away from current events and current culture, we abandoned it to a completely secular attitude and mindset. We can't afford to do that.
Again, I'm not suggesting we advocate for candidates or parties, but taking our voice into the public square, talking about what's happening in our culture, is an assignment we have from Scripture. This book will help you understand how to do that at your kitchen table with your friends and in your community of faith. It's time for us to have a voice in our culture, and I believe this book will help you do that.
Pastor Allen wrote a timely new book called Jesus, His Followers, and Politics. It offers an honest look at what's happening in our culture and the pathway toward a better place. Here's the truth. We don't need to wait for election results. No matter what parties in power, our nation needs a heart change. And God has placed each of us in a specific place in this season so we can take His truth to the people around us. As you read, you'll see that many things people call political are actually biblical.
marriages between a man and a woman. People are either male or female. Parents have ultimate authority over their children. These are all biblical principles. This book helps unravel the confusion surrounding us by providing powerful insight from God's truth. Request your copy of Jesus, his followers, and politics when you donate $25 or more today at EllenJackson.com or by calling 855-5772255. That's 855-5772255.
Now, let's get back to Pastor Allen as he wraps up part one of his message called spiritual warfare and the end times. Not my problem. Matthew chapter 27. This is not a new thing. Shouldn't be limited just to history. It's a part of our biblical narrative as well. Jesus is on trial for his life, the man that holds the ultimate decision over his future is the Roman governor of Judea. You know him, he's Pontius Pilate. Jesus has a private interview with Pilate and Pilate determines that he's innocent.
that he's done nothing worthy of execution, of crucifixion, of being tortured to death, but there's tremendous political pressure on Pilate. The religious leaders of the Jewish community want Jesus executed, and they want him executed in the humiliating fashion of the Roman crucifixion. So Pilate is caught in this awkward place. Even his wife has warned him not to have anything to do with this man. She's had a dream, it terrified her.
and pilots on the horns of a dilemma. His career could be on the line, his fortune, his future, his retirement, his status. All of those things are in play. It's Matthew 27 when Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting. He took water and he washed his hands in front of the crowd. I'm innocent of this man's blood, he said, it's your responsibility. Ask you a question.
How do you think Pilate's declaration played in heaven? Do you think Gabriel looked over at Michael and said, well thank God, we don't have to deal with him now. He is innocent. We should all understand that before an Almighty God, a God who is sovereign over heaven and earth, we do not have the privilege of declaring our own innocence.
We are not the evaluators of that. There is a God. There's a God who created heaven and earth to whom every one of us will ultimately give an account. And the great honor of having access to the Word of God and the presence of the Spirit of God within us is that with the help of the Spirit of God, we can see ourselves and prayerfully have the humility to turn to God in repentance and ask for his mercy. Think of the difference in Pilate's life that he chose in that pathway. He might have lost his job.
He might have lost his position. He might have returned to Rome in the terms of the service of the Roman foreign service of failure. But imagine if he'd returned to Rome as an individual of great value in the kingdom of God. Folks, we understand the choice. It's one we're all facing these days. The details are a bit different. Maybe they're not as dramatic as it appears to be in that narrative, but if you're the one that's facing the dilemma, it feels pretty dramatic.
Now we talk about spiritual warfare. It's not a message that's overly well received in the church. I've studied in more than one theological institution where we were all but forbidden to mention it. We wouldn't sing hymns. We wouldn't sing the classic music of the church if it used combative language, things like onward Christian soldiers. You couldn't use that. It's not a popular message.
We understand why, in the most practical terms, when we fight wars in the earth, it's not the wealthy or typically the best educator to the most powerful who become the frontline soldiers. Those assignments go to others. We understand that. Many of you are veterans. Tragically, we've adopted that attitude regarding spiritual conflict. So we have this imagination that those of us who have the greatest tenure
the most experienced. We imagine ourselves to be the most mature spiritually, the most spiritually sophisticated, or those are the most experienced. We don't imagine we should ever become frontline combatants. That's for others, the pagan, the less aware, the less initiated. Well, I want to remind you for a moment or two that Jesus established our pattern and he trained the disciples.
So I'm gonna ask you just to look with me at that for a moment. Matthew chapter 20 and verse 25, Jesus called the disciples together, the apostles and said, you know that the rulers of the Gentiles lorded over them. And their high officials exercised authority over them. Not so with you. Instead whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant. And whoever wants to be first must be your slave. Just as the son of man didn't come to be served but to serve and to give his life as a ransom for many.
I want to make a suggestion. I don't believe we can ignore obedience and imagine that God's blessings will continually fill our lives. I believe those of us who know the truth, who have spent time in church and spent time serving and learning and growing and understanding, we are called to be the voice, the salt and the light for the kingdom of God in our generation. I don't believe we can delegate that just to the professionals.
or to the political class or to whomever we imagine should carry that banner. Then I think if we ignore that, if we choose to turn away, I believe we need to understand that the deterioration will continue, not just beyond us, but it will accelerate within us.
Not just my opinion. Look in Romans chapter one. Romans chapter one is the introduction to arguably the greatest theological presentation that we have available to us. The book of Romans is a masterful presentation of the redemptive story of Jesus of Nazareth. And the very first chapter establishes a downward progression of humanity when we refuse to acknowledge God and give thanks to him. And as we're nearing the end of that downward progression, Paul makes a rather remarkable statement
He says, since they didn't think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God. So the assumption is that the persons being discussed have a knowledge of God. He's not unknown to them. The scripture isn't unknown to them. Biblical principles are not unknown to them. It was just inconvenient to remember it. We all understand that we have all been in places where it was a little inconvenient to know right and wrong. So we're just gonna open for a little memory hiccup.
Wing pleed ingards, where we can get a bowl of water and wash a bit. Since they didn't consider it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, he gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what ought not to be done. The language, I believe, is important. God gave them something. He gave them the freedom to do without hindrance what they wanted to do. He released them.
That suggests there had been some restraining influence, some sense of conscience, perhaps some voices scattered, suggesting an alternative. But God released them to their choices of embracing depravity. And watch what happens. They became filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, depravity. They're full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, and malice. They're gossips, slanderers,
It's worth noting, I believe, that gossip and slander are rolled right in there with envy, murder. Another day. God haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful. They invent ways of doing evil. They disobey their parents, their senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless, although they know God's righteous decree. This is affirming what I suggested to you a moment ago. These aren't the unprepared. They're not the uneducated.
They aren't the unchurched, although they know God's righteous decree that those who do such things deserve death. They not only continue to do these very things, but they also approve of those who practice them. We talk a bit about spiritual gifts, manifestations of the Spirit, the things that the Spirit of God will bring to our lives. Demonstrations of His power, His grace, and His mercy to help us accomplish His purposes. We need to understand there's another kind of gift as well.
If you choose not to retain the knowledge of God, if you choose to hide it, to ignore it, to bury it, God will give you the gift of having what you want. He will release you. Church, it should sober us. How do we find ourselves in a place where we are today, where marriage is redefined, where our children are being mutilated, with the support of the state, and far too frequently the applause of the scientific community?
How did we arrive there? Because our salt and light is so small, so dim. We've had a knowledge of God, but it was awkward to have to acknowledge it. And God, I believe, has given us over to some things. And I believe it can be reversed. I believe it can or we wouldn't have been given the message. We're not the first group who has had the challenge. Look at 2nd Corinthians chapter 12. It's a church. Paul helped form.
It's a church that was very spiritually active, and a church that was very, very carnal. Paul said, there's immorality amongst you that even the pagans don't do. That is not a compliment. When the founder of your congregation says, you're more immoral than the ungodly people in your community. He's not cheering for them. Chapter 12 and verse 20, he said, I'm afraid that when I come, I may not find you as I want you to be,
You may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there could be quarrelling, jealousy, outbursts of anger, factions, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder. I'm afraid that when I come again, my God will humble me before you. And I'll be grieved over many who have sinned earlier and have not repented of the impurity, the sexual sin and the debauchery in which they have indulged." I just point that out. I don't want us to imagine it's because it's at the end of the age that we're struggling.
Carnality and selfishness have flourished in the church as long as we've existed. But we don't have to capitulate. Now Paul warned Timothy, a young man, he's mentoring that as we approach the end of the age, it'll become more intense. So those tendencies will intensify. We'll have to be on our guard even more carefully. 2 Timothy 3 marked this. There'll be terrible times in the last days. The literal translation is the times will be exceedingly fierce. I think it's a better description.
And then he lists 18 attributes of the human character that will deteriorate. He didn't point to political deterioration. He doesn't point to the increase in wars. He doesn't comment on climate change. The Bible talks about all those things, but those aren't what Paul is pointing Timothy towards. He said, beneath all of that is the deterioration of human character. Listen to this description. Let me ask you the question before you listen. I want you to decide the degree to which it sounds like contemporary life in the world that we hear about.
People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. Having a form of godliness but denying its power, have nothing to do with them.
Again, I would point out to you that it's the descriptive of a group of people who stand underneath the umbrella of some sort of an organized expression of faith. We would call them church folk. Paul said they'll have a form of godliness. They'll have religious language and religious services. They'll have religious books. They're going to use a lot of good phrases. He said, have nothing to do with them.
We have a great new tool to offer you today. Pastor Allen's new book, Jesus, His Followers, and Politics. You and I have a biblical assignment to be salt and light, to bring God's truth into our culture. This timely book provides practical insight that will help us do exactly that.
Request your copy when you donate $25 or more today at alanjaxon.com or by calling 855-5772255. That's 855-5772255. That's all for today on Alan Jackson Ministries. Thanks for listening. Tune in next time for another encouraging message. This program is sponsored by Alan Jackson Ministries.
