Generational Choices

[Music] it's good to be with you again our topic today is generational choices you know it only takes three generations to completely lose an idea some of us used to have rotary dial phones and that seems like a fantasy to the younger people around us these days doesn't take long for something to go away our history is important there's a lot of pressure these days to take our history and set it aside to rewrite it to dismiss it to say that it was bad folks that's an incomplete understanding our story is not perfect but we live in a unique nation god has blessed us there have been many sacrifices made to bring us to the point of freedom and liberty and abundance that we enjoy today and our choices right now will make the difference for the generations who follow us it's important who we decide to be and our history is an important part of that grab your bible and get a notepad most of all open your heart let's see what the spirit of god has for each of us today amen today is the 20th anniversary of 9 11. it's hard to believe it just seems impossible do you remember where you were when you first saw that plane fly into the north tower remember how you felt we were having a staff retreat we were at fall creek falls state park and we stepped out of a meeting room we had a bit of a break and there was a television in the lobby and somebody wandered over and hollered for the rest of us and that first plane had just flown into the north tower and we were standing there it was hard to process it was surreal we weren't sure if it was an accident or and then we saw that second plane but we still didn't keep up it wasn't immediately apparent that the towers couldn't withstand that structural damage so it was like one layer of unfolding horror after another remember that and we you know we grabbed all of our stuff and threw it in the cars and headed back to the church the next few days were some of the most remarkable in that i ever remember people just quietly coming to church to pray no not a formal invitation they were just coming and would sit in the sanctuary and quietly pray i don't remember a time in recent memory when we were more united as a people there was a two or three week window there it didn't last tragically it didn't last as long as it should or could but there was a two or three week window where we stood together we didn't know what next was and we knew we needed the strength that we found in one another does that feel right is that what you remember about 9 11 you know the our teenagers the young people in that age group and younger it's not a part of their life experience it's a historical event to them like world war one is to the rest of us they've seen pictures of it and they've heard people talk about it but it's not a part of their emotion emotional portfolio the way it is those of us that are a little older it's important to let them know the story to let them hear it from you it's important to remember you know the line about history is that if we forget our history we're doomed to repeat it um my takeaway and my most cherished memories from that season were the unity it brought to us as the people when there's a true threat we stand together or we'll be overwhelmed my greatest concern about this pandemic the virus that came to us from wuhan is we haven't stood together it's been a very divisive season and there are many powerful voices speaking to us that foment that division not just this week from the beginning it was far too quickly politicized we were told to follow the science and i'm an advocate for science i think we should follow the science but science is consistent it will be the same in tennessee or new york or california or mississippi it doesn't change with state borders it isn't influenced by the political party the governor of a state and we struggled this time to stand together one of my prayers is that i think the church is uniquely positioned you see we are bound together under the lordship of jesus of nazareth you can't be a hyphenated christian if you're a hyphenated christian don't be confused you're not one i'm not a male christian or a southern christian or something else christian my my definition of my person begins with i'm under the lordship of jesus christ and everything else follows that because of that the church should be a unifying force not that we always agree or we always think in the same way or we respond or prefer the same translation or the same style of music i'm not talking about those peripheral things but we should be a healing force a unifying force it's an important time in our nation i hope you'll you know in 9 11 the heroes that year were our first responders our firefighters and our law enforcement the emts those people that ran towards trouble that day multiplied thousands of people running in the opposite direction and there were hundreds of people running towards those buildings we've lost that perspective i'm grateful for those men and women that stand watch over our cities and our communities to put themselves in harm's way on our behalf on a weekly basis they've been mocked and ridiculed and denigrated when one of them fails or there's someone in their midst with bad character they're highlighted and they try to pretend as if all of them are reflected in that one individual none of us serve in a profession that would survive if the worst amongst us were highlighted as being normative for the rest of us amen don't be easily manipulated by those with agendas as you go through the weekend thank god that he's kept us we have enemies it's annoying to me to be honest to see some of the people that have taken microphones in recent days that have presided over the evacuation in afghanistan and the debacle of abandoning our citizens and our allies to walk to microphones and take victory laps and tell us what a great job they did and then go celebrate 9 11. nevertheless god has kept us amen god has kept us yes amen i want to read you a verse of scripture joshua 24 and verse 15 says if serving the lord seems undesirable to you then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve whether the gods your forefathers serve beyond the river or the gods of the amorites and whose land you're living but as for me in my household will serve the lord you wouldn't think that statement needed to be made joshua was talking to the children of the people who left egyptian slavery and ate manna in the wilderness who walked through the red sea when it was parted they saw moses come down mount sinai with ten commandments they they worked to construct a tabernacle this is the first generation of people of the hebrews that have lived in freedom and now they're about to occupy their promised land and joshua gets them together with some very sobering words he said you're going to have to choose for yourselves whom you're going to serve you see every generation has to make that choice you can't imagine you're a christ follower of standing because your parents were you shouldn't imagine that because your grandparents were godly people with good character that yours is intact it's a wonderful heritage to have if those things are true of you but every one of us has to make a consistent set of decisions about our faith and it seems to me we're at one of those pivot points what kind of people are we going to be we have a nation where we have the privilege of having a christian heritage i know it's maligned and criticized but the reality of the facts is our nation was founded brought into life by people who were looking for an opportunity to for the freedom to worship jesus they didn't want freedom they didn't just want freedom from the state they wanted freedom from a state church their property had been confiscated on the other side of the pond they had suffered greatly and they came to this continent many of them didn't survive that first winter separatist this nation was birthed from that heritage but every generation has to make that decision we have to make a decision what kind of nation we're going to live in will be it will be a nation where christianity the biblical worldview shapes our values and our morals and our schools and our legal system or will we be something else we can't simply say well that's been our heritage we'll have to have the courage to go to the city council meetings and the school board meetings and all the other meetings and pay attention we'll have to make sacrifices it will cost us things probably some friends we're going to have to decide certainly one of the most celebrated and i believe one of the greatest presidents in our history was abraham lincoln his presidency was a tremendous sacrifice and he paid for it with his life freedom is not free folks well his one of his most celebrated speeches was the gettysburg address i put it in your notes it's not a long speech unlike mine i mean i can squeeze his whole speech into just a part of mine think of the opportunity he left on the table the first couple of sentences i suspect you know you've heard them in the movies and i hope you're familiar with them four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth upon this cotton a new nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal if you don't happen to know abraham lincoln was president during the civil war his leadership the strength of his character his integrity was an enormous component in our nation surviving that season but in that address he goes on to say something that i think is very pertinent for us today [Music] in that third paragraph if you're following along he said in a larger sense we cannot dedicate we cannot consecrate we cannot hallow this ground he's speaking where there's been a terribly bloody battle and he's saying the sacrifice has already been made in this place we're late to the party and that's our story when we remember 9 11 the sacrifices have been made that generation of people those people that ran towards those towers those families that overcame that loss and that heartache and that devastation we're 20 years on the other side of that but we still have the challenges and what kind of a nation are we going to leave what's our heritage going to be flashy post on facebook or social media how are we going to be defined lincoln went on to say it's for us the living to be dedicated to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced it's rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion that we here highly resolve that these dead shall not have died in vain that this nation under god shall have a new birth of freedom see it isn't just that we had freedom every generation needs a new birth of freedom folks it's our assignment we've hidden from this for too long that the government of the people by the people and for the people shall not perish from the earth lincoln understood it was a very fragile thing and it's every bit as fragile today i believe we need to regain our sense of national pride i'm opposed to those who criticize our story and our outcomes i believe they have an agenda and to be candid they're deceptive we're a nation that emerged from a desire for religious freedoms william bradford the separatists the puritans and others i'll give you a couple of examples it was 1782 the united states congress the u.s congress voted this resolution i quote the congress of the united states recommends and approves the holy bible for use in all schools [Music] congress voted that that's our heritage we celebrate the heritages of all kinds of peoples we're told that the heritage of a person has to be celebrated recognized treated as valid know how different no matter how different it may be from ours why would we as christ follow was relinquish the heritage that is a clear part of our history don't go quietly into that dark night and that was 1782 every generation has to make their own choices in 1963 some of you remember what was going on in 1963. there were revolutions afoot sexual revolutions 1963 the supreme court ruled that the bible reading was outlawed as unconstitutional in the public school system and the court offered this justification i quote if portions of the new testament were read without explanation they could and have been psychologically harmful to children it's laughable but it's not funny generational choices generational choices we were busy with other things we were distracted the church was distracted it's the business of the church did you know that our first 108 universities founded in america 106 were distinctly christian 106 108 universities 106 distinctly christian the first one was harvard university it was chartered in 1636. the original harvard student handbook rule number one was that students seeking entrance must know latin and greek so that they could study the scriptures i quote from the handbook let every student be plainly instructed and earnestly pressed to consider well the main end of his life and studies is to know god and jesus christ which is eternal life john 17 3 and therefore to lay jesus christ as the only foundation of all sound knowledge and learning and seeing the lord only giveth wisdom let everyone seriously set himself by prayer in secret to seek it of him proverbs 2 3 3. harvard student handbook every generation has to make a choice what are we going to choose what are we going to choose stop complaining about the darkness and be the light it's enough celebrate godliness celebrate holiness celebrate righteousness don't celebrate 9 11 unless we have the courage to be a generation of heroes now it's wrong to stand in the shadow of those men and women and the bravery they demonstrated and listen to those stories told over and over again in the courage of their families and why we bow the knee to ungodly things we're a nation of immigrants we have come from the nations of the world and the reality of our history is that typically we came because we were fleeing something famine oppression something we're not bound together because we look the same or because we have the same accent or we share a common ethnic heritage we gathered in this land to pursue the idea which launched our nation jefferson put it into words so beautifully in the declaration of independence we hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal that they're endowed by their creator with certain unalienable rights but among these are life liberty and the pursuit of happiness at the signing of our declaration of independence when there were lives on the line they were leading a real insurrection that was somebody with a fur vest and horns on his hat they recognized the right of a creator and the rights that come from that creator folks the government isn't the one they don't give us freedom god gave us freedom every generation has to make a choice every generation parents you have to train your children to make a choice that will secure their future you can't secure it for them you can't take the pain and difficulty out of their life and imagine they'll have the courage or the stability to make the choices that will let their freedoms persist we have a uniquely beautiful nation mile upon mile of beautiful beaches great lakes majestic mountains the rockies the grand tetons the smokies the ozarks we have vast deserts great plains beautiful forests god has blessed america we have enjoyed freedoms and liberties that most have only dreamed about i have traveled a good bit and our experience in this nation i assure you is not normal god has blessed us we're farmers and factory workers and scientists we're explorers we've been to the moon we live in crowded cities and we spread across vast prairies we have believed in marriage between a man and a woman and family and the importance of keeping your word wherever you travel in america you see churches city after city state after state historic churches new churches you see scripture verses carved in the stone of our public buildings public monuments honoring our faith and values it's our heritage but every generation has to make a choice we're a creative innovative people our values have enabled that innovation they didn't come from a vacuum they came from a value system a world view alexander graham bell henry ford george washington carver garrett morgan bet you don't know him he gave us the three light traffic signal you should pray for him every time you're sitting at one of those lights we put men on the moon and the hubble telescope in space we built railroad ships rockets and jet engines there's some unique inventions to the u.s i pick my favorites chocolate chip cookies dental floss let's go down in history for inventing dental floss hey hearing aids cardiac defibrillators radiocarbon dating traffic lights crash test dummies microwave ovens assembly lines the laser chemotherapy video games email transistors the internet all from the creativity and the innovative innovation of americans we're builders we build bridges from the golden gate to the brooklyn bridge to the seven mile bridge through the florida keys we build buildings the empire state building the gateway arch in st louis and the space needle in seattle we build space shuttles and space stations we build disneyland and disney world we build ferris wheels it's an american invention by the way we built the personal computer and cell phones we're warriors we've stood for freedom and liberty for more than two centuries from the beaches of normandy to the jungles of vietnam or the deserts of iraq and afghanistan our army navy air force and marines have stood the test our firefighters have been on call from the great fire of chicago to the world trade center on 9 11. our police officers have protected and served this nation with sacrifice and honor we're overcomers we've overcome great depressions we've overcome our own internal failures we have endured world wars after winning we rebuilt the nations we defeated that's never been done before in human history we've triumphed in ideological conflicts we overcame fascism we saw communism crumble socialism they are failed ideas do not fall for their deceptive promises their lies we've lived under the rule of law it began with god's law the ten commandments were revered and honored they need to be again it was codified in our constitution it was clearly stated in our bill of rights our laws were to protect us from the government that's the point governments left unchecked will consume the people they govern it has happened repeatedly throughout human history and we are no different we cannot afford to stray from the ideas which have fostered this unique experiment in self-government if we do we will lose our freedoms i assure you they are unique in the world i spent two hours yesterday inviting the people across southern california to say a prayer with me all weekend long it's a simple one-sentence prayer that you've prayed with me before god bless america again god has blessed us he's blessed us in the most remarkable ways he's done it repeatedly through our history from the great awakening that changed new england and really put the moral backbone in the colonists to enable them to stand up to great britain and lead us to freedom as a nation there was a revival in our nation that gave us the moral courage to to take address the problems that brought forth the civil war change does not come easily we won't slouch our way to a better future we will do it with courage and determination and strength and more days than not you'd rather quit than wish somebody else would take up the cause god bless america again amen every generation has to choose our nation needs you to stand in your faith read your bible seriously think about what it says don't read it as a habit don't read it as a responsibility read it because we desperately need that truth in our lives get your friends together and pray i make a suggestion gather a small group of friends and have a celebration about the new abortion law in texas that's something to post on facebook i'm tired of seeing what you eat for dinner let's celebrate some godliness get your friends together have the dialogue it's a little uncomfortable it's a little awkward we've turned our eyes to ungodliness and immorality for so long talk to one another talk about what you hear and see tell the truth to one another i want to take just a moment there's some lessons from the prophets i think that we would benefit from i chose jeremiah jeremiah was a prophet in jerusalem during a a very very difficult season if you haven't noticed yet we're walking through a difficult season and the the our better future may be delivered to us because of scientific breakthroughs or economic issues but i promise you the force that will lead us to those things is spiritual in jeremiah chapter 9. and verse 12. it says what man is wise enough to understand this who has been instructed by the lord and can explain it why has the land been ruined and land laid waste like a desert that no one can cross and the lord said it's because they have forsaken my law which i set before them they have not obeyed me or followed my law instead they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts seems appropriate to me jeremiah's talking to the children of israel to the covenant people of god he established him in that land he blessed them in that land he made them fruitful they multiplied they grew they've survived now for generations but the land is there's devastation creeping across the land and jeremiah delivers the message the lord says it's because they have followed the stubbornness of their hearts god blessed our nation with abundance and prosperity folks we don't have unique natural resources there are many places in the world with more remarkable natural resources we don't work harder we're not more industrious we're not smarter we're immigrants we've come from everywhere [Music] what bound us together was a worldview a set of values centered in scripture in our allegiance to jesus of nazareth we've never been a uniquely christian nation but the dominant value set that has shaped our legal system and our schools and how we've done business came from a judeo-christian worldview how is it we so willingly set that aside we're afraid it'll offend someone it's who we are it's how we got here if we persist it will be because we hold to that it's not archaic it's not out of date it's not old-fashioned jeremiah 23 18 who has stood in the counsel of the lord that he should see and hear his word who was given heed to his word and listened same chapter verse 22 if god said if they had stood in my counsel then they would have announced my words to my people and they would have turned them back from their evil way and from the evil of their deeds the invitation is to stand in the counsel of the lord to listen to him to pay attention to his perspective to choose his perspective over all the other voices that speak into our lives there were many in jerusalem there were dozens and dozens and dozens of prophetic voices speaking in contradiction to jeremiah people welcomed by powerful forces in jerusalem jeremiah suffered he was imprisoned he was thrown in a pit he was mistreated there were far more fashionable voices to listen to but the message god is saying is who has listened to my counsel who's paid attention you see in critical times extraordinary responses are required we understand this fundamentally if you have a health issue if you've been sick it may require you to rest in bed after your illness if you had to have a surgical procedure just good standard post-operative care would limit your movement oftentimes limit the weight you could pick up it's not a permanent condition you recognize you're in a critical time your body's healing there's tremendous energy and physical effort being invested on your body recuperating and restoring itself so you make special adjustments to accommodate that you might change your diet we get this we're living through a pandemic we've been quarantined we've been isolated we've been masked up we've been outside and inside so here's the suggestion from the prophet make the effort to stand in the counsel of the lord see and hear his word give heed to him just within your sphere in your life your daily choices what you do how you unpack your life give a little different perspective to god don't ignore what's going on it's not your imagination it's real it is real second corinthians 10 and verse 4 says the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses powerful weapons have been entrusted to the church of jesus christ but they're not tanks or planes it's not the stuff we left for the taliban [Music] i mean we left them some stuff best armed terror group in the world right now but you and i the church of jesus christ have more powerful weapons stop grousing about the afghans we need to discover the weapons we've been given quit praying somebody else will use them we've been given our weapons away we'd rather have a seminar and actually engage we'd rather have another study how many times do we have to study before we do something with them second corinthians 6 and verse 7 in the word of truth in the power of god the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and the left got one for both hands you know 6 ephesians 6 11 put on the full armor of god many christians like to say you know the the devil and the demonic forces or unclean spirits don't have access to us folks if we're not going to be buffeted by those things why do we need the armor it's illogical to me our struggle isn't against flesh and blood but against the rulers and the powers against the world forces of this darkness against spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places i just gave you a quick summary of the the general descriptions of the weapons that have been given to us the name of jesus he said we could use his name the authority of jesus name invested in you and what's our response so often well you know pastor i just don't pray stop that's worse than giving your weapons away to the terrorists we've been given the authority of jesus name now if you're not living under his authority if you're not submitted to his authority if he isn't really lord of your life if he's not lord of your moral choices and lord of how you do business and lord of your integrity and lord of your character it's going to be a little awkward to try to invoke that authority but if you are yielding your life to the lordship of jesus he said you can use my name we've been given the blood of jesus it makes us clean [Music] it enables us to be justified in the sight of god it says that through his blood we have been justified justification is kind of a fancy religious term plain good old middle tennessee language to be justified is just as if i'd never sinned how could you get to that place through the blood of jesus not through church services not through collecting sermon outlines not through volunteering or generous donations not through investing sweat equity it only comes through the blood of jesus what a powerful weapon the next time the enemy reminds you he'll remind you of some dark scene in your life some chapter where you failed some bad choice you made when you chose wickedness and ungodliness and you say [Music] if you haven't done dealt with it before do it today 911 2021 father forgive me amen i chose against you i wasn't confused or distracted i made an ungodly choice it wasn't a season of my life i wasn't justified i was wrong forgive me in jesus name wash me by the blood of jesus [Music] the church should be the best repenters on planet earth the church would repent god would bend the world the name of jesus the blood of jesus the word of god it's not an onerous burden to read your bible it's the greatest privilege of your life it doesn't feel that way do you tell the lord you're sorry tell him the truth i don't like your book i got to that point in my life i knew i was supposed to read my bible i'd get up early in the morning i was a young person i was in college i did it probably get up early in the morning because the day's going to get busy and i'd get up early i go to sleep every morning reading my bible every cotton picking day i was staying up half the night that could have had something to do with it but nevertheless and i finally you know this is foolish there needs to be enough integrity in my life to reconcile what i say and what i do so i said i'll take and and studying was a big part of my life in that season and i needed to do well at it i said i'll take the most productive study time of my day and i'm going to give a portion of that to my bible when the time of day when i was sleepy it was the time of day when i knew i was alert and focused and awake and i'd get my bible out and i had things i needed to do i needed to learn there were tests to be taken and papers to be written but i'd open that bible now i can't say i saw angels or heard voices no donkeys talked to me there were some people never mind that's but i wanted to put the practice in place in my life of honoring the word of god your confession your words have spiritual authority how frequently do you your word use your words for the kingdom of god i'm not talking about manipulative selfish things we've all seen that misused but your words have spiritual authority thankfulness do you stop on a daily basis to give thanks to god if you don't you're leaving a weapon do you praise the lord that's about god's character folks god's ego is not so fragile that he needs you to say nice things to him you and i have a soul that's so inconsistent that if we don't routinely remind ourselves that god is the creator of all things that he's worthy of all glory and honor and praise and thanksgiving that he's delivered me from the kingdom of darkness and brought me into the kingdom of his son that he's written a future for me that's beyond anything i could earn or deserve or qualify for that it's not determined by my iq or my resources or my success or my fails failures it's because of his grace and his mercy i need that recalibration and then people say to me we know pastor i'm just not emotional change if i got to your car ahead of you tonight and i took a sledgehammer to it while you stood there i bet you'd find an emotion i'm not trying to change your personality some of us are extroverts and some are introverts and some are in between that's okay but praise isn't offered as a sacrifice to god god i don't feel like it i'm tired and i'm weary and i'm a little discouraged i'm sick of the problems and i wish they'd go away and people annoy me and the traffic on the highway there's still orange barrels out there god but i will praise you huh it's a weapon pushed back on the darkness and your testimony it says in revelation they over the believers on earth overcame satan by the blood of the lamb and the word of their testimony every week you need to interact with people with a god story your god story may be i'm still here in spite of all the foolishness and all the knuckleheads of the platform i'm still here thank you jesus let the people that know you know you're all in for jesus we've been quiet every generation has to make a choice folks this is up to you and me there isn't somebody else coming one of the most transformational ideas of my life was that when you when you have a task you have to treat the task like you have to finish it if you don't finish it nobody else is coming we haven't lived like that i want to do a bible study i want to study what i want to study are you kidding me study what you need to study to help people into the kingdom amen well you're just trying to grow the church you figured me out do you imagine that the presentations i make or what i would like to study this week sometimes the power of truth the power of truth jesus in john 8 said you'll know the truth and the truth will set you free the government will set you free the political party of your choice won't set you free leaning into hatred and demanding your rights won't set you free the truth will set you free god's truth there is objective truth not all truth is subjective there is a god the creator of all things there is right and wrong and there is a judge of all the earth and we will all give an account before him not a popular message not a popular message within the church isaiah 59 and verse 14 pretty accurate description of our world right now the good news is it's not a new thing see it's so easy most of us are trying to plan our escape strategy because things are getting a bit darker and there's some things happening we think well it has to be the end of the world it just has to be truth is falling in the streets we don't know where to go you don't get truth from from any right i told you about a the gubernatorial election in california i had to follow the news there a little more carefully in order to do the talk show one of the leading candidates against the sitting governor is a he's a christian man he happens to be he grew up in south central l.a he's a black man he was attacked at the middle of last week in one of his rallies by a woman with a gorilla mask on throwing eggs at him shouting racial epithets and the la times reported that there was an altercation at one of his campaign events and they showed a picture that gave the appearance that he was slapping the woman it was the exact opposite of the reality of what had happened truth is stumbled in the streets but it's not the first time it's not even the second time i don't think it's helpful to use the end of the age as your escape strategy like a fire escape i think the real challenge is what do we do to lean into it to see the greatest harvest in the history of humanity that's our assignment that's our assignment but listen to what isaiah says it's isaiah 59 justice is driven back and righteousness stands at a distance truth is stumbled in the streets and honesty cannot enter truth is nowhere to be found and whoever shuns evil becomes a prey the lord looked and was displeased that there was no justice seem familiar to you that seems very timely to me remember prophecy is not so much about foretelling it is about giving god's perspective on the world that's an accurate description of israel in isaiah's day but by the spirit of god i think it's a pretty accurate description of our nation in this day the media no longer seeks the truth schools and universities often don't teach the truth at one time higher education in our nation was about a free exchange of ideas we tolerated dissenting opinions because we wanted our young people to learn how to think it seems the education has become rather one-sided business leaders prefer profit over truth let the buyer beware if you're a christ follower don't use that line if you're using that line you better be aware of god if you're preying on people that lack the experience to defend themselves against your business prowess and you think that's good business you should understand something we will stand before a judge of all the earth and we won't outsmart him churches prefer acceptance often too often over holding out the truth god's word is the source of truth for us john 17 17 jesus is speaking sanctify them by your truth your word is truth you don't want to just trust me to help you learn your bible you want to invest time in it i have a friend that read through the bible last year six times it changed him i don't think of him as a as a reader but because of his schedule and the year and the disruptions he decided to invest the time it changed him [Music] psalm 19 119 i'm sorry the sum of your word is truth and every one of your righteous ordinance is everlasting the bible tells us there's a tremendous value in truth proverbs 23 23 buy the truth and don't sell it a purchase is when you exchange something that's valuable to you in order to acquire something that you perceive to be more valuable if you want a happy meal you give them some money which is valuable to you because that hamburger is more valuable to you in that moment so the counsel in proverbs is by the truth whatever you have the truth is more valuable exchange what you have for the truth and when you get the truth it says never sell it you'll never find something more valuable than god's truth matthew 13 jesus verse 44 the kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field when a man found it he hid it again and then went in his joy and sold all he had and bought that field choose the truth every day choose the truth in your life in your decisions and your interactions with other people psalm 51 6 your desire you desire truth in the innermost being and in the hidden part you will make me known wisdom zechariah 8 these are the things which you should do speak the truth to one another judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates speak the truth to one another not like a club if you're hiding the truth if you're explaining the truth if you're spinning the truth stop folks our future is going to be determined by what we choose as a generation if we want freedom and liberty for our children and our grandchildren we're going to have to choose differently than we have chosen previously the trajectory is not good don't be angry at the wicked turn up the light and finally yield to truth ephesians chapter four paul's writing to a group of believers in ephesus remember the story of the church in ephesus the riots the deliverance with the seven sons of the high priest and the drama when they took a beating from a demonized man a lot of things in ephesus so paul's writing back to those believers now that's their heritage there's a supernatural component they're very aware of the demonic forces it's an idolatrous city there's a there's a temple to a pagan god paul said i tell you this i insist on it in the lord that you must no longer live as the gentiles do in the futility of their thinking he said i insist that you change they're darkened in their understanding and separated from the life of god because of the ignorance that's in them due to the hardening of their hearts they've lost all sensitivity they've given themselves over to sensuality so as to indulge in every kind of impurity with the continual lust for more sounds pretty accurate to the world i see we've become callous that we've just given ourselves over to indulging in whatever sensuality brings pleasure in the moment no boundaries no more a's verse 20. you however did not come to know christ that way surely you heard of him and were taught at him in accordance with the truth that is in jesus you were taught with regard to your former way of life to put off your old self you were taught not to act that way because it's being corrupted by its deceitful desires to be made new in the attitudes of your minds to learn to think new ways to feel in new ways to put on the new self created to be like god in true righteousness and holiness therefore each of you must put off falsehood and speak truthfully to his neighbor very plain language doesn't really need much explanation put off your old self be made new in the attitudes of your minds we have to think differently than the secular world so you can't listen to their messaging full time it will dictate your thoughts don't do that right put on a new self oh it's the same old earth suit i look the same but i'm learning to think new thoughts i'm learning to feel new ways about the world around me i'm learning to set objectives in a different way i'm striving for something different than the secular people around me folks if there is no different than your life objectives of the secularists around you what makes you think you're a christ follower your location on the weekend amen every generation has to choose every generation has to choose put off falsehood speak truth to your neighbor it's 9 11 weekend you're going to see an endless stream of reminders important reminders of the sacrifices that were made so that we could be free understand this the people that flew those planes into those buildings into the twin towers into the pentagons the one that crashed in that field in ohio their intent wasn't to take down the twin towers it was to turn our nation upside down and they're still alive and well today they don't hate you less there was a group of people thank god with the courage to run towards the trouble there were families that persevered in the midst of horrible loss do we have the courage do we have the courage i believe you do god has blessed us may god bless us again i brought you a prayer it's not a long one why don't you stand with me you've got an assignment you've got some groups together together some people to get together and celebrate that there are thousands of children's lives going to be saved because we've had the courage to say we won't sacrifice them any longer how many of you be willing to have one of those little gatherings not sure start with a friend next door start with a co-worker start something you need to get together celebrate it take a few minutes thank god for it make a list of all the babies you know that have been born in the last five years set up call their names out one by one say god i thank you for every one of those lives that was spared and forgive us for every name that we can't call because we didn't care enough to stand up god thank you that we're finding new courage let's pray heavenly father teach us to love your truth grant us a revelation insight into your eternal truth that we might walk in righteousness forgive us when we have chosen deception and dishonesty i choose to separate myself from all falsehood i want to be a person who walks uprightly before you in truth and integrity in jesus name amen hallelujah god bless you [Music] hey this is pastor alan thank you for watching this video if you enjoyed it like it and most importantly share it with your friends if you want to be notified when there's new content when we post new material if you'll just subscribe to my channel and hit the bell you'll get the notification most of all i pray god blesses you as you continue on your spiritual journey and open your heart to the lord god bless [Music] you

Channel: Allen Jackson Ministries

Views: 4,092

Keywords: Pastor Allen Jackson, allen jackson ministries, world outreach church, alan jackson, sermons, preachers, how to be saved, Finding Jesus, pastor allen jackson sermons

Id: BBRmWJCVlv0

Length: 51min 1sec (3061 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 17 2021