Thank you for joining Alan Jackson Ministries. We live in a culture where we are so far away from biblical values regarding human sexuality. And now we've arrived at a place that we say it's just confusing. We're not sure whether we're male or female anymore. You understand. That's very close to the description of the Laodice Decine Church. We don't need anything, and God says you are wretched.
We have arrived at a place where we're spiritually blind and the church seems addled to speak to it. I'm not saying that there aren't people that struggle that aren't, there aren't individuals that are confused, but being confused about something that's foundational about your life is a desperate place. Not something to be encouraged and trained to talk to our children.
Our ministry is to spread God's truth across our nation and around our world. And Alan Jackson Ministries intends to do this in every possible way, including broadcasts like these. If you'd like to listen to the full sermon, you can find it right now on AlanJackson.com on our podcast and on our app.
All of this is available thanks to our supporters. Together, our goal is to help people become more fully devoted followers of Jesus who lead with their faith everywhere they go. Learn more at alanjaxon.com.
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 Allen 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 will complete the message we began yesterday. Here's Pastor Allen with part two of What Are You Afraid Of?
You can sit in church every week and have a heart far from God. You can. Most of us have worn that uniform once in a while. You see, a casual faith rejects this accountability. Now, for fairness, the other extreme of this is legalism. Legalism gives birth to self-righteousness.
And the fruit of legalism and self-righteousness almost inevitably is witchcraft, which is about control, not people with long pointed black hats, but biblically speaking, it's about control and manipulation and domination. So when we say Jesus is going to reward us for what we've done with our time in the body, it's not that we're going to earn our way to heaven,
But then if we choose to lead our lives with the objective of pleasing the Lord out of a reverence for Him, a respect for Him, a fear for Him, we're not trying to bring God down to our level. He's not like us folks. He made the earth and everything that's in it. You can't do that. There is a God.
The wonder of the word of God is that he can be known and that he would welcome us into a relationship with himself. And the opportunity we've been given is to live every day with the objective of pleasing him. That really is the foundation of the fear of God. We believe spiritual things are real. So we'll give thought and time and attention and energy into being spiritually clean.
We'll try to understand the biblical principles that enable us to lead lives of spiritual freedom. Free of unforgiveness and hatred and bitterness. Do you understand there are powerful, powerful, repetitive voices coaching us towards unforgiveness and hatred every day? And we often blindly follow along. We're agitated and frustrated and filled with ungodly things. They bring destruction.
We desperately need the voice of the people of faith informed by the scripture. Speaking to our children and our schools and our college campuses, not just preaching sermons, teaching us how to be in this world. A respect for one another, a respect for the dignity of human life. A respect for holiness and godliness and purity and righteousness. Words that seem so quaint when you just say them out loud these days.
a reward for each person according to what he's done. I would submit to you that we learned to fear God. It's a learned behavior. In the same way you learn some physical skill by repetition and training muscle memory or you learn something academically, it's a learned response. It begins with truth. The fear of the Lord emerges from truth and fundamentally the truth about ourselves.
There's many ways I can illustrate that from Scripture. I'll give you a simple one in Revelation chapter 3. Many of you know the book of Revelation begins with letters to seven churches. In order to get the message of Revelation, you had to be involved in a church. Just saying.
That's true. But to every one of those churches, the message begins the same way. There's seven unique messages. They're different to the circumstances of each church. Every community faith was somewhat different in the challenges they faced and the pressures they endured. But to each one of them, the Lord said, I know your deeds. Wow. And then he would give them an evaluation, a diagnosis.
along with a resolution into the church in Laodicea. It's the one I put in your notes. It's Revelation 3, 17. He says, you say, this is their self evaluation. They turned this in before they had their evaluation. We're rich. We've acquired wealth. We don't need a thing. Wow. A little bit of swagger there. We got it all. Don't need anything. We're good. Nothing else to see here. Let's move along.
And this was God's evaluation of them. You don't realize that you're wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked. Wow, there's a little discrepancy between their self-evaluation and God's evaluation. So here's a prayer we can pray. God help me to see myself as you see me. Holy Spirit, help me. I don't wanna lead my whole life spiritually blind.
I don't want to show up for my interview, my evaluation, having spent my entire life every day of opportunity under the sun, completely ignorant or refusing to look at the condition I had before you. Help me to see myself. It's actually a little courage to pray that, but it's a whole lot better to be aware. Wouldn't you agree?
God has made provisions so that we can be free or forgiven or delivered. He's the God of redemption and restoration. But if you're not aware, you might not even know you need forgiveness, so you wouldn't even repent. We might be so blinded by our own carnal, earthly cell, whatever. So we're just motoring along completely clueless.
It happened to the church. It happened to the church, a church that made the book. This wasn't the pagans in Laodicea. It wasn't the immoral or the godless or the wicked or somebody. It was God's people. He said, you should say, you don't need anything. And I'm telling you, you wretched pitiful poor blind and naked. Truthful, you gotta be pretty messed up to be blind and naked and not know. Right, I mean, I've been confused. I've been lost.
I've been turned around. I mean, I've been some things, but I can't ever say I just found myself blind to naked and didn't know. If I was looking, I'm not gonna even look. I'm just right here. I'm not going anywhere. They're in a desperate place. In fact, the word that God used is it's wretched, pitiful. I don't want God.
It is evaluation of me writing down wretched and pitiful. Serious stuff. So the fear of God begins with this sense of truth about who we are. And that truth then will establish a response. And this is what's been buried a little bit. We know that sinners need to repent. We know the ungodly need to repent.
A lot of us have been coached on altar calls, and I believe in those. Again, there's a legitimacy in that I'm not saying there's not, but the needs gathered amongst God's people are great. A turning of our lives to the Lord, a sensitivity to where we have been less than what we might have been. So we have this brazenness that goes with my salvation is secure, therefore everything else is extraneous, secondary, not particularly meaningful. That's a very disrespectful way to live.
It's a very disrespectful way to live and it will create the opposite of the fear and respect of God. So there's a response that's established amongst us and there's a little window in John's gospel that I think is helpful. Jesus has gone to a wedding with Mary and some of his newly recruited disciples. It's at the very beginning of his ministry. There's been no public miracles yet. So there's really no one that knows the uniqueness of Jesus beyond just a very closed circle of people. Mary knows.
Elizabeth knows, Zechariah perhaps knows, Joseph. They go to Canaan, Galilee, and Jesus' mother was there, John tells us, and Jesus and his disciples have been invited. And the wine was gone, and Jesus' mother said to him, they have no more wine, and Jesus said, that's not my problem, Mom. That's what he said. I mean, I just, and his mother said to the servants, just do whatever he tells you.
Well, that's weird. Just do whatever he tells you. You know, there's a lot we don't know about Jesus' life. We know the circumstances of his birth and we get a little window into Jesus, a very brief peek through a small window when he's 12 at the temple in Jerusalem talking to the leaders. And then we don't see him again until he's 30. So Mary has had this 30-year odyssey of parenting
the Son of God, the Messiah. I mean, if you think there could be some stories in there. I mean, there's some literature around in antiquity that hints at it, but it's not included in the Scripture, so it's just left to us. So we don't know what Mary knows. We don't know what she's processed. We simply know that when there's, her friends are about to be humiliated at a wedding, she says to Jesus, you know, you could help them.
What's he been making Merlot at home? I mean, how do she know? I don't know. And I don't mean that disrespectfully, but obviously Mary is aware of something that is not included for us as backstory. And so she simply says to the servants, you do whatever he tells you to do. And she has enough authority in that setting that the servants will take instructions from her.
And they have to draw a lot of water and carry a lot of water and fill multiple stone jars with it. And then Jesus says, take some of that water and you drew out of the well and take it up to the master of ceremonies. And that's weird. And you know the outcome, the miracle. What intrigues me is the response in Mary's heart. He can do whatever he wants to do, cooperate with him. That's what I want to build into my heart with the Lord.
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 to wrap up part two of his message. What are you afraid of? So our choices become really important. Choices around things that we all understand. Things that God would bless. Things that God created us with the ability to either enjoy or gather, to marshal, to use for His purposes. Money is one of those. We're not taking up another offering. There's no pledge card state to your chair.
But we're giving some instructions about how we interact with material possessions because they're a big part of our journey through time. In Hebrews 13, it says, keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have. Because God has said, never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.
See, if you have a great respect for God, the fact that God's presence is abiding presence is a part of your journey through time would provide tremendous comfort. If you don't have much respect for God, if you don't have a great reverence for Him, you'd rather be sure you can take care of your journey through time. And again, I'm not opposed to things. It isn't evil, money isn't evil, money isn't the root of all evil. The Bible says the love of money is the root of all. So inviting God into your life, your work,
Work is an expression of worship. Every bit as much as singing with a band when they're playing your favorite chorus or singing your favorite hymn. How you work is an expression of your character. Wow, I'm meddling now. Sex, God's idea. We live in a culture where we are so far away from biblical values regarding human sexuality.
that now we've arrived at a place that we say it's just confusing. That the basic biology of our lives is so confusing. We're not sure whether we're male or female anymore. You understand? That's very close to the description of the Laodice Decine Church. We don't need anything and God says, you are wretched. You are blind. We have arrived at a place where we're spiritually blind and the church seems addled to speak to it. We've lost our battles, we'll be canceled.
People be mad at us. Well, I'm not saying that there aren't people that struggle, there aren't individuals that are confused, but being confused about something that's foundational about your life is a desperate place. Not something to be encouraged and trained to talk to our children.
Romans chapter one gives a lengthy explanation of it. We don't have time to go into that in detail. I put a portion of it in your notes. It says, the wrath of God is being revealed from heaven. As much as he's a God of love, he's a God of wrath against godlessness and the wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness. You should understand that the suppression of the truth of God is wickedness. It's not tolerance. It's not inclusivity. It's wickedness.
And we have been arbiters of this. The church, the church. I've been trained in this stuff and some of the finest theological academic settings available. It proliferates amongst the people of God.
Since what may be known about God is plain, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature have been clearly seen being understood by what has been made so that men are without excuse. The Bible teaches this principle that we're accountable based on the revelation that's made available to us. We're not gonna be accountable in the same way. God said He's revealed Himself to every human being and He will judge them in fairness,
justly based upon what's been presented to them. You and I have had the opportunity that very few people that have ever lived on this planet have had. If you want to be a serious student or scripture these days, it requires you to learn the English language. To get to the material that's available. That could change very quickly and certainly technologies making those thresholds much simpler because languages are not the barrier they were just a few short years ago. But you should recognize the great privileges we've had.
We have so many translations of the Bible available. Does we argue around which one we should be reading? We break fellowship over translations of the Bible. That's clever. We have Christian television, Christian radio, comment. We have an abundance of information available to us so much that we like stop. I don't know.
God said it's been, we made plain to us. So our accountability level is different to whom much is given, much is required. Then he goes on in verse 21, for although they knew God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him. You see, giving thanks to God's really not an option. If you're gonna cultivate a respect for God or a reverence, you say thank you.
I watch parents the effort they invest in teaching their children to say things like thank you. Please, expressions of respect, trying to conquer that hardwiring in us towards rebellion. The parents just have to say one time to their children, you should say thank you. And after that, they're always thankful. Only at my house.
No, that's a difficult battle to win. It has to be reinforced. It takes authority in a child's life to teach them that. And it takes authority in your life and my life to teach us to be thankful to the Lord. Otherwise, we'll think we're self-made. We'll think the blessings we have and the privileges we have and the opportunities we have are the result of our hard work, our discipline, our right thinking, our correct doing. We don't want what we deserve.
We need the grace and mercy of God, but we don't want to live presumptively upon it. We want to be conscious that every day we're planting our future. We're writing a future for ourselves. And we want to do the best we can with that. It's a sobering passage. Their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened and they claimed to be wise, but they became fools.
And they exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal men and birds and animals and reptiles. You can worship the planet these days and be celebrated as courageous forward thinking. We protect the turtle nests on the beach with greater tenacity than we protect our own unborn children. That's fundamentally wrong. And I'm not opposed to protecting the turtles.
But it says in verse 24, therefore, therefore is a concluding word. God says, because of that trend, because of that downward progression, God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. And he goes on to describe in significant detail that degradation, that collapse of human character, that plunge into increasingly immoral behavior.
You don't have to have much discernment to see the degree to which it's taken root amongst us. The headlines are filled with it from Jeffrey Epstein to Diddy. It's ingrained in our culture. There's been very little sad about it. We kind of step back. In my opinion, it's because it's so widespread. We just kind of shrug our shoulders and go, yeah. It's very visible in our behaviors towards our children.
Children are always the targets of evil. They always suffer disproportionately. We've said a little about abortion because the lives of our children are cheap. We've said a little about trafficking because children are perceived as something for pleasure. If you haven't sexualized them in that way, they fulfill your life. You can't be happy unless you've met the quota that you've determined you should have. We've made children into something of pleasure.
We've separated children from parental authority. We have people now that without any apology or any reluctance will blare into a microphone that they have the right to tell parents what to do with their children. I object. Children are subjected to language and coaching and immersion and gender confusion and alteration. We're told because there's profit in it. They're being sexualized when they're very young. Folks, that is the definition of perversion.
And all of those things are not happening in some distant place. They are happening amongst us in the culture in which we currently live. But we're busy with other things. I brought you a prayer. Why don't we stand together?
It's a prayer you can take with you. Please don't leave it at church. Make it yours all week. Share it with your friends. It's a simple prayer. You know, I'm amazed at how God responds to our invitations. When we open a doorway, if we say, God, I believe Jesus is your son. Save me from my sins. He dies. Changes our destiny. Imagine the joy it will bring to his heart. We begin to say to him, God, I want to walk uprightly before you. If there's anything hindering that helped me to see it, God, I'd like to please you today. Or maybe at the end of the day, God, I'm sorry for all those places I was displeasing to you.
I brought you prayer, let's pray it together. Almighty God, we submit to your authority in power. Forgive us for our rebellion and stubbornness.
Grant us now understanding hearts and open our eyes to see your majesty that we might walk uprightly before you. May the fear of God grow within us. May the fear of men diminish. Give us a boldness to honor you in all we do and say, in Jesus name, amen. Hallelujah. God bless you.
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.
