Pastor Allen Jackson's mission is to help people become fully devoted followers of Jesus Christ.
#Religion
#Holy Spirit
#Miracles
#Prayer
#Healing
#Power of the Holy Spirit
#Anointing
#Calling
#Purpose
#Allen Jackson
#Acts 05:12-16
#Acts 14:8-10
#Acts 16:16-17
#Luke 19:41-43
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Allen Jackson Ministries | The Power Of The Spirit Part 2 | January 17, 2022
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- CC by Aberdeen Captioning www.aberdeen.io 1-800-688-6621
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- Allen Jackson: It's an honor to be with you today.
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- We're gonna complete our study on "Truth Be Told."
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- You know, on a lot of occasions, I think we're
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- afraid of the truth.
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- If you're not feeling well, maybe you're reluctant to go to
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- the doctor because you don't want to get a bad diagnosis.
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- Or if you think your children aren't doing great in school,
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- you don't really want to talk to the teacher 'cause you don't
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- wanna hear all the negativity.
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- Well, there's no opportunity to be better.
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- If you're sick and you need to help, you've got to have the
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- truth before you know how to chart a course to be better.
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- Well, the same is true in our spiritual lives.
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- We need God's truth so that we know how to walk in freedom and
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- liberty, to walk in his authority and his power.
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- So don't be frightened by God's truth.
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- Sometimes it's awkward, sometimes it's a message you'd
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- rather not hear, but God's truth is a pathway towards freedom and
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- his authority being unleashed on your behalf.
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- Grab your Bible and get a notepad.
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- Most of all, listen for what the Lord has for you today.
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- Allen Jackson: I want to take the balance of the time in this
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- session and talk to you about that demonstration of the
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- Spirit's power.
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- What might that look like?
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- It's so far removed from us.
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- You know, we'll talk about orders of worship and orders of
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- service and timelines and when we're gonna meet and where to
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- park and where the welcome center is and how you drop your
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- children off and how to check them in.
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- None of that is evil or inappropriate, but it would be
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- tragic if we knew how to come to church and how to engage as
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- brothers and sisters in the Lord in a safe manner, but we missed
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- understanding the demonstration of the Spirit's power.
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- So I'm just gonna identify--in my brain, they're buckets, but
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- if buckets is disrespectful to you, some expressions of the
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- Spirit's power.
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- And I'll start with the one I think that we probably are the
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- most aware of: miracles.
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- Now, miracles are a part of the story of Scripture from Genesis
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- all the way through to Revelation.
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- Supernatural interventions, when God steps into time and does
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- something that's beyond our physical ability.
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- They're difficult to explain because they're not something
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- we originated.
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- We can identify outcomes.
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- We can identify a gap in the logic.
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- The best definition I ever heard for a miracle is that miracles
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- were places where God utilizes aspects of creation that we
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- don't understand.
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- If that bugs you, come up with your own definition.
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- But they're a part of the story of Scripture from fire from
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- heaven when the prophet prayed, and the fire came at the
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- exact time.
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- Say, "Oh, that was just lightning."
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- Well, okay, but if you're good enough to be able to get
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- lightning to respond to you in a specific location and a specific
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- time on command, I'm thinkin' that's a miracle.
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- You know, I meet Christians that they seem to be dependent on a
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- logical explanation for God's supernatural involvement.
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- I don't feel that burden.
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- I read an article one time that said the reason that--it was
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- written by a physician, well-trained, godly person--
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- said the reason that David was able to defeat Goliath was
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- Goliath had a pituitary problem.
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- That's what caused him to grow so tall.
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- It's logical.
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- And it's not uncommon for somebody with a pituitary
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- problem like that to perhaps have had a knot of some sort on
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- their forehead, kind of a protuberance, and the bone
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- structure would have been weaker at that point.
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- And David recognized all of that.
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- So he said, "I got this."
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- You know, and I'm good with that.
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- If David had enough chutzpah to look across the valley and
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- recognize that great, big guy that everybody else was afraid
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- of had a bony protuberance that was a result of a
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- pituitary problem...
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- I heard somebody else one time say that the reason Jonah was so
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- effective in having the people of Nineveh repent was the acid
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- in the belly of the whale had bleached him, his hair, his skin
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- color, that he looked so absurd that when he walked through
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- Nineveh, everybody was terrified.
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- They'd have done whatever he said.
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- Folks, if that's the case, let's all go bleach.
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- We'll turn loose a bunch of evangelists.
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- I'm happy if there is a rational explanation for when God steps
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- into time.
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- On the other hand, it isn't necessary.
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- I don't carry that burden.
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- I'm not tryin' to check my brain at the door.
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- I want--you better use every ounce of intellect that God's
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- given you.
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- You'll need it.
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- But miracles is an unmistakable expression of the power of God's
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- Spirit in our midst, and God hasn't stopped them.
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- Do you think that we're in such a good place that we don't need
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- God's help anymore?
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- So, miracles.
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- Healings would be another category, another bucket,
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- another way of understanding how God intervenes in our lives.
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- Lepers are cleansed.
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- There's a woman who said, "If I can just touch the hem of
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- Jesus's robe, I'll get better."
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- There are words that are spoken with an invitation, "Silver and
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- gold I don't have, but what I do have--and in Jesus's
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- name, walk."
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- The man walked.
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- Clothes--cloths which Paul prayed over were taken to sick
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- people who didn't have access to him physically.
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- And when those cloths were placed on them, they got better.
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- That's all in the book.
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- In Acts chapter 5, in verse 12, it said, "The apostles performed
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- many miraculous signs and wonders among the people.
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- And all the believers used to meet together in
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- Solomon's Colonnade."
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- That's a portion of the Temple Mount.
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- "No one else dared join them, even though they were highly
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- regarded by the people.
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- Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord
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- and were added to their number."
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- Now, that's the objective.
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- More and more people believed in the Lord and were added to
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- their number.
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- It doesn't describe this as if the causative agent in that was
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- their clever sermons or their flawless presentation of the
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- Jesus story.
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- It says there were many miraculous signs and wonders so
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- that a respect and a reverence for God was upon the people to
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- the point that they were a little reluctant even to hang
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- out with these folks.
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- They recognized the power upon their lives that was unique
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- and different.
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- Verse 15, "As a result, people brought the sick into the
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- streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least
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- Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by."
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- How offended would you be?
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- You had somebody facing a real serious health challenge, and
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- you to ask for prayer, and said, "Listen, just stand by
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- the sidewalk.
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- We'll walk past."
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- We've lost so much of our reverence for God.
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- I'm not suggesting that's a resolution, but I'm telling you
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- the attitude reflected here and the attitude in the world we
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- have lived in is widely divergent.
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- And we are in a place where we are desperate to see the power
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- of God in our midst.
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- Folks, if you're not desperate yet, the circumstances in front
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- of us are going to increase the desperation.
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- And it's too difficult to learn in the midst of the storm.
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- Verse 16, "Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem.
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- They brought their sick and those tormented by evil spirits,
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- and all of them were healed."
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- Now, everybody we pray for doesn't get healed.
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- I've done memorial services for people that, in my opinion, left
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- way too early.
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- And not everybody receives healing in the same way.
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- People say to me, "Are you--do you believe in
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- divine healing or medicine?"
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- Yes.
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- Allen Jackson: Hey, in Acts chapter 1, Jesus ascended back
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- to heaven.
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- The church goes public and starts the Jesus ministry in
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- his absence.
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- But just a few chapters into the book of Acts, Jesus is back
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- in time.
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- He's on the Damascus Road recruiting a new messenger.
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- This time it's Saul of Tarsus.
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- He's an angry, violent Pharisee who hates Jesus's followers and
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- is dragging 'em towards prisons, and Jesus steps back into time
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- to get his attention.
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- Well, Saul of Tarsus becomes Paul the Apostle, one of
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- our heroes.
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- I hope he's a friend of yours.
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- You read his letters all the time as you read through the
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- New Testament.
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- Well, Paul was an advocate for Jesus in a season of tremendous
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- turmoil, a lot of confusion.
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- There was a lot of political pressure.
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- There was a lot of deception.
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- In fact, there was a tremendous cost to be an advocate
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- for Jesus.
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- Paul was willing to take on that cost to the point that he's
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- still speaking to you and me today.
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- His messages to the church are powerful words of encouragement
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- for the circumstances that we face today.
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- We've prepared a tool for this new year.
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- It's a daily devotional that I built out of Paul's letters to
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- those churches.
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- We put it in a journal fashion so that on a daily basis, we can
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- reflect on the lessons that Paul was sharing with those people
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- with whom he was making the journey so the Spirit of God can
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- give application in your life and mine.
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- It's that daily feeding, meditating, thinking about the
- 00:10:00.287 --> 00:10:03.324
- Word of God in the context of the challenges of this day that
- 00:10:03.324 --> 00:10:07.194
- brings true strength to us, and we need God's strength in
- 00:10:07.194 --> 00:10:10.865
- this season.
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- The fact that I'm born again or had a God experience last year
- 00:10:12.199 --> 00:10:15.202
- isn't enough.
- 00:10:15.269 --> 00:10:16.604
- I need to know God today, this week, this month, now.
- 00:10:16.604 --> 00:10:19.507
- Well, I believe this tool, it's a devotional built out of those
- 00:10:19.573 --> 00:10:22.209
- letters from Paul, will be a tremendous strength to you in
- 00:10:22.209 --> 00:10:25.346
- this year.
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- Open your heart.
- 00:10:26.681 --> 00:10:28.049
- Begin to say to the Lord, "I wanna follow you."
- 00:10:28.049 --> 00:10:29.850
- We're the 21st century edition of the book of Acts and we want
- 00:10:29.917 --> 00:10:33.287
- to do it in a way that honors Jesus, just like Saul of Tarsus
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- learned to.
- 00:10:36.290 --> 00:10:38.159
- female announcer: God has called us to be salt and light in our
- 00:10:38.225 --> 00:10:40.695
- generation, and Pastor Allen's new 90-day devotional book,
- 00:10:40.695 --> 00:10:44.899
- "Lessons from Paul," can help.
- 00:10:44.899 --> 00:10:47.468
- The devotions apply the truth of Paul's letters to our
- 00:10:47.535 --> 00:10:50.271
- current circumstances.
- 00:10:50.271 --> 00:10:51.972
- They can help encourage, equip, and strengthen us to follow the
- 00:10:52.039 --> 00:10:55.509
- Lord no matter what's ahead.
- 00:10:55.509 --> 00:10:58.079
- "Lessons from Paul" is a high-quality, full-sized book,
- 00:10:58.145 --> 00:11:01.882
- and each day includes a Scripture, devotional, prayer,
- 00:11:01.949 --> 00:11:05.653
- writing prompt, and a place to journal.
- 00:11:05.720 --> 00:11:08.923
- We'll send it to you as a thank you for your donation of $25 or
- 00:11:08.989 --> 00:11:13.360
- more today.
- 00:11:13.360 --> 00:11:14.862
- When we encounter hardships, will we decide to follow God or
- 00:11:14.929 --> 00:11:18.666
- will we pull away?
- 00:11:18.666 --> 00:11:20.634
- Let's learn how to stand courageously with "Lessons
- 00:11:20.701 --> 00:11:23.471
- from Paul."
- 00:11:23.471 --> 00:11:24.805
- Request your devotional today by going to allenjackson.com or
- 00:11:24.805 --> 00:11:29.376
- call ...
- 00:11:29.376 --> 00:11:33.781
- Allen Jackson: There's a third category of the power of the
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- Spirit that we desperately need to be aware to and alert for,
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- and that's discernment, discernment.
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- Just for a working definition, it's the recognition, the
- 00:11:49.597 --> 00:11:51.465
- awareness of spiritual influences.
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- Discernment isn't just recognizing something
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- that's ungodly.
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- Discernment is the ability to recognize what is godly.
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- The best protection against counterfeit currency is somebody
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- that recognizes the authentic.
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- You don't have to know every method or plan or means of
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- creating a counterfeit.
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- You just know what the authentic looks like.
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- Well, the same is true of the Spirit of God.
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- You want to be so familiar with him, with God's character,
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- with the activity of his Spirit, that you will recognize
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- something that's not authentic because you're so comfortable
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- with the authentic; discernment.
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- Folks, we are a church--you know, if you've measured our
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- discernment in contemporary Christianity, I'm concerned.
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- We have little.
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- The fruit of our lives has to match up with the words of our
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- mouths or we are incredibly vulnerable to deception.
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- Deception is the outcome of a lack of discernment.
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- So when Jesus warns us, Matthew 24 is his lengthy prophetic
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- discourse about the end of the age before his return, and the
- 00:12:59.066 --> 00:13:01.969
- warning that he gives us most frequently is about deception.
- 00:13:01.969 --> 00:13:05.172
- So one of the things we can glean from that is discernment
- 00:13:05.239 --> 00:13:08.776
- will be at a low ebb.
- 00:13:08.776 --> 00:13:10.144
- Don't be one of those folks.
- 00:13:10.144 --> 00:13:11.512
- There wouldn't be a massive apostasy.
- 00:13:12.513 --> 00:13:14.348
- There wouldn't be a great falling away.
- 00:13:14.348 --> 00:13:16.050
- There wouldn't be increase in deception if we had heightened
- 00:13:16.050 --> 00:13:19.653
- discernment, spiritual awareness.
- 00:13:19.653 --> 00:13:22.990
- Think of it as your spiritual immune system.
- 00:13:24.458 --> 00:13:27.962
- You wanna do everything you can to strengthen your ability to
- 00:13:27.962 --> 00:13:30.731
- recognize the spirits that are in play in your presence.
- 00:13:30.731 --> 00:13:34.635
- Acts chapter 14, verse 8, "In Lystra," it says, Paul and his
- 00:13:37.071 --> 00:13:41.041
- crew, "there sat a man crippled in his feet, who was lame from
- 00:13:41.041 --> 00:13:44.578
- birth and had never walked."
- 00:13:44.578 --> 00:13:46.113
- It's gonna be a miracle.
- 00:13:47.181 --> 00:13:49.416
- "But he listened to Paul as he was speaking.
- 00:13:49.483 --> 00:13:52.019
- And Paul looked directly at him, and saw that he had faith to
- 00:13:52.086 --> 00:13:55.589
- be healed."
- 00:13:55.589 --> 00:13:57.424
- This wasn't a healing service.
- 00:13:57.491 --> 00:13:59.426
- It's not a miracle service.
- 00:14:00.261 --> 00:14:02.029
- There's a man present where Paul is teaching from the Scripture
- 00:14:02.096 --> 00:14:05.399
- and Paul discerns that the man had the faith to be healed.
- 00:14:05.466 --> 00:14:09.036
- "So he said, 'Stand up!'
- 00:14:09.036 --> 00:14:11.872
- And the man jumped up and was able to walk," wow.
- 00:14:11.939 --> 00:14:19.280
- Acts 16, Paul and his crew again, "Once we were going to
- 00:14:19.280 --> 00:14:23.050
- the place of prayer, we were met by a slave girl who had a spirit
- 00:14:23.050 --> 00:14:26.587
- by which she predicted the future.
- 00:14:26.587 --> 00:14:28.122
- She earned a great deal of money for her owners
- 00:14:29.189 --> 00:14:31.625
- by fortune-telling."
- 00:14:31.625 --> 00:14:33.027
- We don't do fortune-telling so much anymore.
- 00:14:35.262 --> 00:14:37.231
- We just do online gambling.
- 00:14:37.231 --> 00:14:39.833
- Amen, Pastor.
- 00:14:43.237 --> 00:14:44.638
- She earned a lot of money for her owners, because with enough
- 00:14:47.741 --> 00:14:50.911
- accuracy that there were some validity imagined around it, she
- 00:14:50.911 --> 00:14:56.183
- would pick winners.
- 00:14:56.183 --> 00:14:57.584
- "The girl followed Paul and the rest of us."
- 00:15:00.220 --> 00:15:02.790
- That's the sentence I wish you would circle.
- 00:15:02.790 --> 00:15:04.725
- She followed Paul and the whole crew, "Shouting, 'These men are
- 00:15:04.725 --> 00:15:10.331
- servants of the Most High God, who are telling you the way to
- 00:15:10.331 --> 00:15:14.234
- be saved.'"
- 00:15:14.234 --> 00:15:16.503
- The spirit in that woman understood the spirit in Paul
- 00:15:16.570 --> 00:15:20.941
- and the people with him.
- 00:15:20.941 --> 00:15:22.343
- "These people are servants of the Most High God."
- 00:15:23.444 --> 00:15:25.579
- She's not reading their t-shirt.
- 00:15:25.579 --> 00:15:26.981
- "These people are servants of the Most High God.
- 00:15:28.816 --> 00:15:31.185
- They're telling you how to be saved."
- 00:15:31.185 --> 00:15:32.786
- The spirit in her recognized the spirit in them.
- 00:15:32.786 --> 00:15:35.823
- Are we prepared for the awkward truth that there are unclean
- 00:15:35.889 --> 00:15:40.027
- spirits around us in play with more spiritual awareness that
- 00:15:40.027 --> 00:15:43.897
- many of us have had?
- 00:15:43.897 --> 00:15:45.766
- 'Cause we're still goin' to the seminar, a six-week seminar, on
- 00:15:45.833 --> 00:15:49.803
- whether or not spiritual things are real.
- 00:15:49.803 --> 00:15:51.872
- How many seminars do we have to go to before we begin to believe
- 00:15:54.174 --> 00:15:57.411
- our Bibles?
- 00:15:57.411 --> 00:15:59.780
- "She kept this up for many days."
- 00:16:03.550 --> 00:16:05.285
- That would be awkward.
- 00:16:05.285 --> 00:16:06.887
- That really would.
- 00:16:09.390 --> 00:16:10.724
- That'd be awkward while you're going to work to have somebody
- 00:16:10.724 --> 00:16:12.393
- follow you through the halls.
- 00:16:12.393 --> 00:16:15.262
- "This person is a servant of the Most High God.
- 00:16:15.262 --> 00:16:18.532
- They have a job description, but they're really here to tell you
- 00:16:19.900 --> 00:16:21.969
- the way to be saved."
- 00:16:21.969 --> 00:16:23.370
- And they just kept it up for several days.
- 00:16:25.339 --> 00:16:27.508
- And finally, Paul became so troubled that he turned around
- 00:16:28.809 --> 00:16:31.078
- and said to the spirit, "In the name of Jesus Christ, I command
- 00:16:31.078 --> 00:16:35.382
- you to come out of her."
- 00:16:35.382 --> 00:16:37.284
- And the spirit left her and the riot broke out, 'cause those
- 00:16:37.351 --> 00:16:41.188
- that controlled her realized their revenue stream was
- 00:16:41.188 --> 00:16:43.257
- being diminished.
- 00:16:43.257 --> 00:16:44.625
- Discernment.
- 00:16:47.661 --> 00:16:49.696
- Faith, another category, another bucket.
- 00:16:49.696 --> 00:16:52.266
- Faith is imparted by the Spirit of God.
- 00:16:52.266 --> 00:16:54.268
- The Bible talks about faith as a substance.
- 00:16:54.268 --> 00:16:56.703
- Doesn't take a lot of it.
- 00:16:57.337 --> 00:16:58.705
- Jesus said if you've got faith the size of a mustard seed, you
- 00:16:58.705 --> 00:17:00.541
- can do some freaky things.
- 00:17:00.541 --> 00:17:02.576
- Mustard seeds are little bitty things.
- 00:17:02.643 --> 00:17:04.211
- They're not like an avocado pit.
- 00:17:04.211 --> 00:17:05.879
- You've got just the tiniest amount of faith, you can do
- 00:17:07.481 --> 00:17:09.716
- something amazing.
- 00:17:09.716 --> 00:17:11.051
- In the story in Acts 14, a man had faith to be healed and it
- 00:17:11.051 --> 00:17:13.854
- changed his life.
- 00:17:13.854 --> 00:17:16.123
- Now, there's some things you should know.
- 00:17:16.190 --> 00:17:17.524
- In Romans 12:3, it says, "God has allotted to each of us a
- 00:17:17.524 --> 00:17:20.360
- measure of faith."
- 00:17:20.360 --> 00:17:21.728
- God's given some faith to every one of us, so you have the
- 00:17:21.728 --> 00:17:25.265
- necessary component to respond to God, to find your way into
- 00:17:25.265 --> 00:17:28.802
- the kingdom.
- 00:17:28.802 --> 00:17:30.170
- Every person has been given a measure of faith.
- 00:17:30.170 --> 00:17:32.506
- Nobody that rejects God does it from a place of ignorance.
- 00:17:32.573 --> 00:17:35.843
- We do it from a place of rebellion.
- 00:17:36.877 --> 00:17:39.279
- But then Romans 10, verse 17 gives us another component.
- 00:17:39.346 --> 00:17:42.116
- It says, "Faith comes from hearing."
- 00:17:42.182 --> 00:17:44.251
- When your faith is small, you can grow faith.
- 00:17:44.251 --> 00:17:47.354
- Faith will come to you.
- 00:17:47.354 --> 00:17:49.990
- In the same way you develop a muscle or you developed your
- 00:17:50.057 --> 00:17:52.392
- intellect, your faith can grow.
- 00:17:52.392 --> 00:17:54.795
- It comes by feeding it on the Word of God.
- 00:17:54.795 --> 00:17:57.931
- It's important to have a habit set and a routine that allows
- 00:17:59.600 --> 00:18:04.371
- your faith to grow stronger.
- 00:18:04.371 --> 00:18:06.740
- You should believe God capable of things in your life and in
- 00:18:06.807 --> 00:18:09.643
- the world around us this year in a way that you didn't a
- 00:18:09.643 --> 00:18:12.513
- year ago.
- 00:18:12.513 --> 00:18:13.914
- Faith imparted by the Spirit of God.
- 00:18:16.884 --> 00:18:20.521
- Spend time in his presence.
- 00:18:22.256 --> 00:18:23.624
- Spend time in his Word.
- 00:18:23.624 --> 00:18:24.992
- Your faith will grow.
- 00:18:24.992 --> 00:18:26.360
- Folks, we need a church filled with faith, not foolishness, not
- 00:18:28.295 --> 00:18:32.499
- presumption, not arrogance.
- 00:18:32.499 --> 00:18:34.535
- There's another category, another bucket, and this is
- 00:18:36.069 --> 00:18:38.238
- built around revelation.
- 00:18:38.238 --> 00:18:39.606
- This is insight, understanding.
- 00:18:39.606 --> 00:18:41.575
- And there's more than one type of revelation described to us in
- 00:18:43.210 --> 00:18:46.213
- the New Testament.
- 00:18:46.213 --> 00:18:47.581
- One is when God gives us his perspective on current events.
- 00:18:47.581 --> 00:18:51.051
- When we--God reveals to us how he sees our circumstances.
- 00:18:53.187 --> 00:18:57.958
- The Bible is filled with that.
- 00:18:58.025 --> 00:18:59.993
- That's what the prophets of the Scripture are.
- 00:18:59.993 --> 00:19:03.163
- That's what so much of Jesus's messaging was.
- 00:19:03.230 --> 00:19:06.233
- "Woe to you," he said, remember?
- 00:19:07.000 --> 00:19:12.039
- God's perspective.
- 00:19:12.039 --> 00:19:13.473
- We need God's perspective on our world.
- 00:19:13.473 --> 00:19:16.443
- If we get really honest, I mean, face down on the floor, talkin'
- 00:19:17.678 --> 00:19:21.815
- to God truthfully honest, we've been far more concerned about
- 00:19:21.815 --> 00:19:25.118
- God giving us what we want than we have had about his
- 00:19:25.118 --> 00:19:30.190
- perspective on the world we live.
- 00:19:30.190 --> 00:19:32.192
- In fact, we get a little anxious.
- 00:19:32.192 --> 00:19:33.961
- We dare to wander into that arena where we talk about
- 00:19:35.362 --> 00:19:37.731
- biblical principles in light of current events.
- 00:19:37.731 --> 00:19:40.334
- It's not political.
- 00:19:42.336 --> 00:19:43.704
- I'm not advocating for a candidate.
- 00:19:43.704 --> 00:19:45.639
- God defined marriage.
- 00:19:46.440 --> 00:19:47.808
- He didn't ask our opinion.
- 00:19:47.808 --> 00:19:49.176
- So our assignment is to represent him.
- 00:19:50.110 --> 00:19:51.878
- We've been given that revelation.
- 00:19:51.878 --> 00:19:53.680
- God's perspective on current events.
- 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:55.315
- Look at Luke 19, "As Jesus approached Jerusalem, he saw the
- 00:19:55.315 --> 00:19:58.485
- city and he wept over it."
- 00:19:58.485 --> 00:20:00.587
- The Messiah is there and he's weeping over the city.
- 00:20:00.654 --> 00:20:04.491
- "If you had only known on this day what would bring you peace,
- 00:20:04.558 --> 00:20:07.694
- but it's hidden from your eyes.
- 00:20:07.694 --> 00:20:10.430
- And the days will come when your enemies will build an embankment
- 00:20:10.497 --> 00:20:12.966
- against you and circle you in and hem you in on every side."
- 00:20:12.966 --> 00:20:16.036
- If I could pick you up and take you to the Mount of Olives
- 00:20:16.036 --> 00:20:18.171
- today, if we looked across the Kidron Valley, you would see the
- 00:20:18.171 --> 00:20:21.308
- embankment that the Romans built 40 years after Jesus said that.
- 00:20:21.308 --> 00:20:25.812
- Part of it's still there, hiding the wall on the eastern side
- 00:20:25.879 --> 00:20:31.752
- of Jerusalem.
- 00:20:31.752 --> 00:20:33.153
- Jesus had a God perspective.
- 00:20:34.454 --> 00:20:36.423
- He had a revelation for the people.
- 00:20:37.924 --> 00:20:39.660
- There's a different outcome.
- 00:20:39.660 --> 00:20:40.994
- There's a better outcome.
- 00:20:40.994 --> 00:20:42.896
- Oh, we need God's--do you have the courage to say to the Lord,
- 00:20:42.963 --> 00:20:45.799
- "Lord, help me to see my life as you see it"?
- 00:20:45.799 --> 00:20:48.135
- You know, we get so caught up in this, "Well, you know, if I just
- 00:20:51.872 --> 00:20:54.841
- knew what God wanted me to do."
- 00:20:54.841 --> 00:20:58.045
- Another type of revelation is when God gives us knowledge,
- 00:21:02.249 --> 00:21:07.087
- insight, understanding that comes to us beyond just the
- 00:21:07.154 --> 00:21:10.624
- benefit of study.
- 00:21:10.624 --> 00:21:11.958
- I'm not talking about an effective Bible study or a
- 00:21:11.958 --> 00:21:14.528
- clever teacher, but when God gives you insight, when you know
- 00:21:14.528 --> 00:21:19.199
- that you know, and what you know is more than the sum of
- 00:21:19.199 --> 00:21:21.268
- the facts.
- 00:21:21.268 --> 00:21:22.669
- I often go back and listen to a sermon because I hear things
- 00:21:23.870 --> 00:21:26.773
- come out of me that did not come from my study time.
- 00:21:26.773 --> 00:21:28.975
- It's kind of embarrassing, but that's true.
- 00:21:30.711 --> 00:21:32.512
- There's another category of the power of the Spirit and it's
- 00:21:34.214 --> 00:21:36.483
- messengers, persons that are anointed, assigned a message.
- 00:21:36.483 --> 00:21:39.920
- God uses people.
- 00:21:39.920 --> 00:21:41.321
- He does.
- 00:21:42.422 --> 00:21:43.824
- He's called you and me.
- 00:21:44.591 --> 00:21:45.926
- Now, there's some labels: teachers, prophets, apostles,
- 00:21:45.926 --> 00:21:48.161
- pastors, evangelists.
- 00:21:48.161 --> 00:21:49.496
- Don't get hung up on the labels.
- 00:21:49.496 --> 00:21:50.931
- "We are all ambassadors," it says in 2 Corinthians 5:20.
- 00:21:50.931 --> 00:21:54.301
- We are all on ambassadorial assignment.
- 00:21:54.368 --> 00:21:57.204
- You have a sphere of influence.
- 00:21:57.971 --> 00:21:59.306
- There's people who trust you because of your education,
- 00:21:59.306 --> 00:22:01.875
- because of your training, because of the authority that
- 00:22:01.942 --> 00:22:04.911
- you have, because of your professional expertise, or the
- 00:22:04.911 --> 00:22:07.547
- relationships built around your family system, or your
- 00:22:07.547 --> 00:22:10.050
- activities of your children.
- 00:22:10.050 --> 00:22:11.518
- You have an ambassadorial assignment in that.
- 00:22:11.518 --> 00:22:14.254
- Until you would embrace that, why should God give you any
- 00:22:14.321 --> 00:22:16.923
- further assignment?
- 00:22:16.923 --> 00:22:18.291
- We're messengers.
- 00:22:20.460 --> 00:22:21.795
- God's Spirit empowers us for specific assignments.
- 00:22:21.795 --> 00:22:26.133
- The Bible is filled with this.
- 00:22:26.199 --> 00:22:29.102
- This is not some subtle subtext.
- 00:22:29.169 --> 00:22:32.472
- From Abram in Genesis 12 to Joseph to Moses to right on
- 00:22:34.341 --> 00:22:40.847
- through the story.
- 00:22:40.847 --> 00:22:42.182
- Isaiah, "Whom will I go?
- 00:22:42.182 --> 00:22:43.550
- Here I am, send me."
- 00:22:43.550 --> 00:22:44.885
- Jeremiah, "I knew you when you were in your mother's womb."
- 00:22:44.885 --> 00:22:49.289
- Do you think we don't need messengers today?
- 00:22:49.289 --> 00:22:54.094
- Stop praying for one and become one in your sphere of influence
- 00:22:54.094 --> 00:22:58.698
- with your God story with the truth that you know.
- 00:22:58.698 --> 00:23:02.235
- There's no place for our ego in that.
- 00:23:03.370 --> 00:23:05.372
- We're a bunch of cracked pots.
- 00:23:06.907 --> 00:23:08.942
- Stop pretending to be perfect.
- 00:23:10.043 --> 00:23:11.978
- The people know you better than that.
- 00:23:11.978 --> 00:23:16.650
- And the last one I would tag for you is deliverance.
- 00:23:20.687 --> 00:23:24.057
- God's Spirit, the power of the Spirit expressed in our lives
- 00:23:24.124 --> 00:23:26.827
- through deliverance, it's a fundamental outcome of
- 00:23:26.827 --> 00:23:29.563
- the gospel.
- 00:23:29.563 --> 00:23:30.931
- Deliverance from unclean spirits, deliverance from
- 00:23:30.931 --> 00:23:32.799
- personal bondage.
- 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:34.334
- It can be physical healing.
- 00:23:35.335 --> 00:23:36.670
- It can be emotional healing.
- 00:23:36.670 --> 00:23:38.038
- It can be freedom from torment.
- 00:23:38.038 --> 00:23:39.406
- Demons are tormentors.
- 00:23:39.406 --> 00:23:41.341
- They torment you mentally, emotionally, physically, however
- 00:23:42.943 --> 00:23:46.580
- they can.
- 00:23:46.580 --> 00:23:47.914
- They'll recruit their friends.
- 00:23:47.914 --> 00:23:49.282
- They'll attack you in gangs.
- 00:23:49.282 --> 00:23:52.152
- If you don't learn to submit your thoughts to the Lord,
- 00:23:52.219 --> 00:23:54.654
- they'll torment you in your thinking with envy and greed
- 00:23:54.654 --> 00:23:59.259
- and covetousness and lust and the list goes on and on.
- 00:23:59.259 --> 00:24:02.696
- It isn't just your carnal response.
- 00:24:02.696 --> 00:24:04.998
- There are spiritual forces arrayed against you.
- 00:24:04.998 --> 00:24:08.802
- And we need to understand the power of God to deliver us.
- 00:24:08.869 --> 00:24:12.639
- Destructive habits.
- 00:24:15.408 --> 00:24:17.644
- The goal isn't to hide them, deny them, ignore them,
- 00:24:17.711 --> 00:24:21.982
- overcome them.
- 00:24:21.982 --> 00:24:23.650
- You can be free.
- 00:24:23.717 --> 00:24:25.051
- It's the good news of the gospel.
- 00:24:25.051 --> 00:24:26.820
- That's why it's so destructive.
- 00:24:29.456 --> 00:24:30.790
- If you think our goal is to hide it all from one another, there's
- 00:24:30.790 --> 00:24:33.527
- no place for the power of God to be expressed in our midst and it
- 00:24:33.527 --> 00:24:36.363
- diminishes the message for the rest of the world.
- 00:24:36.363 --> 00:24:39.232
- I've said many times the church isn't the Hall of Fame of faith.
- 00:24:41.401 --> 00:24:45.171
- This is the triage unit.
- 00:24:45.238 --> 00:24:47.941
- Did pastor just call me broken?
- 00:24:51.611 --> 00:24:53.446
- He called us broken.
- 00:24:54.948 --> 00:24:57.484
- In Mark 9, and verse 25, "When Jesus saw that a crowd was
- 00:24:59.152 --> 00:25:02.756
- running to the scene, he rebuked an evil spirit."
- 00:25:02.756 --> 00:25:04.658
- It's a young man who's having seizure-like activities, but
- 00:25:04.658 --> 00:25:07.827
- he's deaf and dumb.
- 00:25:07.827 --> 00:25:09.529
- And Jesus's response to him, he said, "I command you to come out
- 00:25:10.997 --> 00:25:13.767
- of him."
- 00:25:13.767 --> 00:25:15.101
- He's speaking to an unclean spirit, literally.
- 00:25:15.101 --> 00:25:17.037
- The Greek word is not evil, it's unclean.
- 00:25:19.239 --> 00:25:21.074
- He says to that unclean spirit-- that's Jesus's commentary on the
- 00:25:21.074 --> 00:25:24.210
- spirit affecting that young boy.
- 00:25:24.210 --> 00:25:25.745
- It's left him mute and deaf.
- 00:25:26.947 --> 00:25:31.017
- He doesn't have a physical problem, he has a
- 00:25:31.084 --> 00:25:32.419
- spiritual problem.
- 00:25:32.419 --> 00:25:33.787
- How did it happen?
- 00:25:33.787 --> 00:25:35.121
- We don't know.
- 00:25:35.121 --> 00:25:36.489
- We don't have the backstory.
- 00:25:36.489 --> 00:25:37.824
- Maybe a traumatic event in his life that made him emotionally
- 00:25:37.824 --> 00:25:39.292
- vulnerable to an unclean spirit.
- 00:25:39.292 --> 00:25:41.161
- Say, "That's not fair."
- 00:25:41.161 --> 00:25:42.529
- That's why it's unclean.
- 00:25:42.529 --> 00:25:43.897
- The devil's not fair.
- 00:25:44.931 --> 00:25:46.733
- Don't open any doors for him.
- 00:25:48.969 --> 00:25:50.770
- Don't extend any invitations to him.
- 00:25:50.770 --> 00:25:53.707
- He's powerful, but he's not more powerful than the one
- 00:25:53.773 --> 00:25:57.010
- we worship.
- 00:25:57.010 --> 00:25:58.979
- Church, we need the power of God.
- 00:25:59.045 --> 00:26:03.516
- Allen Jackson: Hey, before we go today, let's welcome the Holy
- 00:26:03.583 --> 00:26:05.452
- Spirit into our lives without any limit, without any measure.
- 00:26:05.452 --> 00:26:08.755
- We're not going to start the discussion with what I won't do.
- 00:26:08.755 --> 00:26:10.957
- We simply want to say to him, "I have--I want everything you
- 00:26:11.024 --> 00:26:13.526
- have for me.
- 00:26:13.526 --> 00:26:14.861
- I'll cooperate with you as fully as possible."
- 00:26:14.861 --> 00:26:16.262
- Let's pray.
- 00:26:16.696 --> 00:26:18.031
- Heavenly Father, I thank you that you love us so much that
- 00:26:18.031 --> 00:26:20.300
- you sent your Spirit into the earth to live within us, to
- 00:26:20.300 --> 00:26:23.336
- guide us, and to lead us, to help us.
- 00:26:23.336 --> 00:26:25.538
- Holy Spirit, we welcome you.
- 00:26:25.605 --> 00:26:27.273
- Illumine our minds.
- 00:26:27.340 --> 00:26:28.708
- Give us insight and understanding.
- 00:26:28.708 --> 00:26:30.043
- May we live in your authority and power.
- 00:26:30.043 --> 00:26:32.012
- May the name of Jesus be exalted, amen.
- 00:26:32.078 --> 00:26:35.782
- male announcer: Join us every week for another exciting
- 00:26:39.953 --> 00:26:42.022
- message from Pastor Allen Jackson.
- 00:26:42.022 --> 00:26:44.124
- And until then, visit us online and discover remarkable
- 00:26:44.190 --> 00:26:47.727
- information and resources to help take your Christian life to
- 00:26:47.727 --> 00:26:51.331
- the next level.
- 00:26:51.331 --> 00:26:52.799
- And if you're visiting the Nashville area, we'd love to see
- 00:26:52.799 --> 00:26:55.568
- you at World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro.
- 00:26:55.568 --> 00:26:58.338
- We're easy to find, so look us up when you're
- 00:26:58.405 --> 00:27:00.206
- traveling through.
- 00:27:00.206 --> 00:27:01.541
- And don't forget to connect with Pastor Jackson every day through
- 00:27:01.541 --> 00:27:04.110
- social media.
- 00:27:04.110 --> 00:27:05.912
- Thanks so much for joining us and being a part of
- 00:27:05.979 --> 00:27:08.181
- this ministry.
- 00:27:08.181 --> 00:27:09.516
- We'll see you again next time for another encounter with
- 00:27:09.516 --> 00:27:11.584
- Pastor Allen Jackson.
- 00:27:11.584 --> 00:27:26.066
