Majesty, Glory & Honor - Prepared & Equipped [How Will You Serve the Lord?]

[Music] it's good to be with you again we are living through a season of unprecedented change we've never seen anything like this not the scope and the the rapidity of the change it's disorienting it may have been initiated with the coronavirus and all that went with the pandemic and the isolating in place and all of those things but it's it's escalated far beyond that now you know censorship has become a normal part of life things that we thought were constitutional rights certainly a part of our first amendment rights seem to be being set aside for a whole assortment of reasons even dr seuss we're told is a threat strange days but our topic today is majesty glory and honor but specifically how god has prepared and equipped us for this season almighty god knows the ending at the beginning and when he looked at this unique point in history he called your name and mind to stand together to be a light in this world if he's done that he will give us everything we need for life and godliness grab your bible get a notepad most of all open your heart and let's listen for what the lord has for us today this session is really a continuation of what we began in our last session last evening we were talking about majesty glory and honor and along that theme i want to continue we didn't even finish our outline in our last session but i specifically want to talk to you about being prepared and equipped something god has done for us but that we have to respond to and i don't have time to recapitulate everything we said but i do want to set the the big idea in place that the greatest honor of our lives is serving the lord everything else that comes to us is secondary to that any achievement in the accomplishment any resource that we're entrusted with any honor that is bestowed upon us any recognition we gain everything pales in comparison to the great honor and privilege of serving our lord we have done our faith a disservice to imagine that it's about attending church or joining a church or participating in the denomination or getting our theology correctly aligned all of those things have a place and i'm grateful for them i spent my life in the church but serving the lord is the greatest honor of our lives there's nothing that will ever be extended to you as a human being it will compare with the privilege of participating in the eternal kingdom of our god and if that reality hasn't yet broken into your heart it may live in your head it hasn't broken into your heart yet begin to say to the lord lord help me to understand let the magnitude of that the majesty of that the wonder of that the glory of that break into my heart it'll change your life it will transform serving the lord from something that's odious and burdensome and intrusive to a great honor and a great privilege i'll take that as an amen resounding across the building and then we spent a bit of the session talking about our journey through time the bible says that god knows you when you're knit together in your mother's womb and then he breathes his spirit into us and then comes that momentous day when you break forth into the light of day and that begins a journey and we make a journey through time and we can track it through our physical and emotional and maturing but in the context of eternity and your spirit is eternal when your physical body fails you're not done your spirit will step right into eternity and it's our journey through time that little brief journey we have on planet earth under the sun that determines the outcome of our eternity so it's a very significant there are no wasted days it's not something brief it's just right the designer the creator of all things designed you for a purpose on planet earth and for your journey through time so we looked at some biblical insights for that journey and then some personal information from the designer to help us do it more effectively god's told us so much about what this journey is about and if we'll just pay attention we can be prepared if you didn't get to hear the previous session you can find that it's on the website or youtube or someplace it's in the cloud maybe if you stand outside you can just hear it i don't know how all that works but i want to continue that theme this morning it's really information for our journey through time and the next step in that is recognizing this notion about prophetic information and it comes from a sovereign god biblical prophecy is not principally foretelling it's not so much about telling the future a biblical perspective on prophecy is giving you god's perspective on what's happening now god's perspective on your life and our world that will bring with it some future components but it's principally what would god say to us today if you read jeremiah and isaiah and those prophets that you know when you read when jesus prophetic passages principally he's talking about the world in which he's living so we talk about prophetic information we need to understand it comes from a sovereign god the sovereignty of god means god can do what he wants when he wants the way he wants and he needs no one's approval he is sovereign now if there is a sovereign creator and designer overall which is what the bible tells us i would submit to you it would be in our best interest to understand his perspective and this isn't complicated this isn't beyond us in deuteronomy 30 in verse 19 god is speaking to the the hebrew people he said this day i call heaven and earth as witnesses against you that i've set before you life and death blessings and curses now choose life so that you and your children may live and that you may love the lord your god listen to his voice and hold fast to him god has given us a choice he's created us with the freedom to choose you can choose to serve the lord with your whole heart mind soul and body or you can choose to serve yourself god's given you that freedom and that privilege to every one of us it's not about our circumstances it's not the circumstances of our birth or the nature of our life or whether our parents were good or bad or the schools we attended were great or mediocre god's given us a choice to choose him he's the difference maker and we have a long history that the bible is the story of that it's not new that's presented in deuteronomy it's the books of moses and god's counsel is pretty straightforward you wouldn't think we would need a prompt from the creator but he said hey i set before you life and death choose life but we still struggle with that because in this context life is defined for us it says you can love the lord your god listen to his voice and hold fast to him if you don't intend to do that you're choosing death now what's on the opposite side of the equation that powerful force within every one of us that carnal selfish part of us that says i want and i feel and i think therefore i won't listen and i won't serve or i might when it's convenient or comfortable but that's not the essence of being a christ follower so for the first component of this notion of a prophetic perspective is saying god i choose you i choose you in my home i choose you and how i do business i choose you and how i recreate this is not complex it's not conceptually beyond us it's just not easy we would prefer to renegotiate that and say what if i go to church and i pick one of those crazy churches maybe service last two hours this is not one of those you're safe but i mean suppose some of you were looking at your watch like what did i get into i'm like and i'll attend three weeks out of five i mean i need one for rain and i need one for something and then the rest of it's mine biblically that's called deception we're not christians because we sit in this building we serve the lord 24 7. and we don't serve him at all then we don't do it perfectly we step in holes we're inconsistent we're in process that's not an excuse for sloppiness but we need to understand the dynamic there's so many choices and the biblical counsel is choose the lord it will put you in the minority get prepared for that and then the second component of the this prophetic notion and the reason it's worth giving god your attention is god knows the ending at the beginning that's like the ultimate open book test god knows how it's going to finish and if you listen to you he'll help you that's why he says choose life this is really the better path who's sad the creator well i don't believe in him your choice i do it doesn't mean there's not debates within me doesn't mean there aren't times i don't understand or i'm confused or i'm frustrated but i believe in god and i would encourage you to consider that not just to believe in him in an abstract sense but to believe him to the sense to the point that you would submit your life to his authority that's the difference i believe in many things that i don't submit to i believe i could be healthier if i ate less chocolate you can't have mine god knows the ending at the beginning proverbs 1 and verse 7 says the fear of the lord is the beginning of knowledge there is no true knowledge without a reverence and a respect for god you can earn a lot of degrees you can have a lot of letters at the end of the name you can accumulate great resources you can be powerful and influential you can have a tremendous following in the social media but true knowledge begins with a respect and a reverence for god proverbs 22 4 gives you just an example of this it says humility and the fear of the lord bring you've got to circle that little word if you've got a sheet in front of you humility and the fear of the lord brings something to you they will deliver more with with greater dependency than amazon humility and the fear of the lord bring wealth and honor and life well i'm in i'd like a little wealth and honor in life so where does the line form well it's under the banner of humility and the fear of the lord door josh will bring food humility in the fear of the lord will bring wealth and honor and life god has told you the ending at the beginning well you say wait a minute i humbled myself one day and i didn't get rich the new testament counsel on that is remember the farmer says he sows his seed and then he waits patiently oh well how long do i have to wait god didn't tell us well i don't like the weight i know change that's the point of the book that's the point of the information we will align our lives with a god perspective so we get god's engagement in our lives for a better outcome choose life this really isn't that complicated now if we add to that god gives us some seasonal information times and seasons the bible talks about in the earth so that we can be prepared for those unique seasons it's springtime in tennessee that means if you have allergies you need to get prepared because all the friends around you are going to think you've got colvin they won't come within 40 feet of you in fact you need a t-shirt that says i look like this every spring just there's a couple of passages that i think pretty accurately describe the season we're living in one is from isaiah it's chapter 59 verse 12. our offenses are many in your sight and i'm not pointing our fingers beyond the church i think the point of the whole pandemic and the shutdown and the disruptions is the church for the place where i live is in this nation the church in this nation had taken our eyes off of the king we had submitted our souls to comfort and convenience and god in his mercy has been awakening us our offenses are many in your sight and our sins testify against us our offenses are ever with us and we acknowledge our iniquities rebellion and treachery against the lord turning our backs on our god fomenting oppression and revolt uttering lies our hearts have conceived now watch the outcome so justice is driven back and righteousness stands at a distance and truth has stumbled in the streets honesty cannot enter i can't think of a verse it's a more accurate description of contemporary american life the justice is driven back righteousness seems distant truth has stumbled in the streets and honesty is not even welcome jeremiah chapter five and verse one jeremiah is the prophet in jerusalem when god's judgment is about to fall upon them there's an invading army headed their way and god says there's absolutely nothing you can do about it chapter 5 and verse 1 go up and down the streets of jerusalem look around and consider search through her squares if you can find but one person who deals honestly and seeks the truth i will forgive this city it's not an encouraging verse but it's a hopeful verse if i can find one person who will deal with honesty and seek the truth god said i'll intervene you could determine to be that person stop being angry at who people aren't stop being angry at the ungodly the wicked the immoral whoever it is you disagree with and begin to say to the lord i will be such a person that it will bring a response from you that would bring deliverance to an exponential number decide to be that person we can do that church [Applause] so this notion of times and seasons you're going to make goofy decisions if you're not aware of the times and seasons springtime in tennessee's planting season if you've been planting for the last 90 days you're just flat out of luck because those seeds aren't going to do so well but these next few weeks it's time get your tomato plants ready get your garden stuff ready get your flowers ready it's about to start growing around here right for those of you that have to mow the grass hallelujah it's growing he said well what season do you suppose we're in spiritually see it doesn't make any difference oh yes it does if you'd been in israel in the first century when the messiah was walking the hills of galilee it would have been in your best interest to have been aware of that if you'd have been in jerusalem when the babylonians were headed that way it would have served you well to know god's perspective times and seasons make a difference so i'm going to take the balance of our time in this session and see if we can understand what's said about this time and season not to frighten us some of it's not particularly happy stuff because if we've been given the information it's so that we can flourish in the midst of it we don't have to look with fear at the future matthew 24 and verse 12 jesus is speaking as a prophet and he said lawless because lawlessness is increased most people's love will grow cold but the one who endures to the end will be saved and this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all the nations and then the end will come before the end of this age before the gospel is preached to every nation in the world jesus said that lawlessness would increase some of the more modern translations will translate that word wickedness either way it's uncomfortable a dramatic increase in lawlessness and wickedness and right along with that jesus talks about it there's some other passages i won't pull them off for you right now but he said there will be an increase in violence that men and women will delight in wickedness they'll give themselves to wickedness without apology without shame they won't hide it in the dark they will bring it into the light and extend invitations to others and out of that will come conflict in unprecedented ways in the earth wars and rumors of wars the wars themselves won't be sufficient there'll be other wars it'll be a world filled with threat and and the real heart of it is the lawlessness and jesus gives us the way through he says that we'll have to endure he said it plainly the one who endures to the end will be saved well pastor i just rather not think about that to understand that's as ill advised is not choosing just not to think about the fact that it's winter you better change your wardrobe or you won't stay healthy all of us changed our lives because of a virus you've changed something about your life even if you're very belligerent certainly we don't fear a virus more than we fear god and then jesus said the gospel of the kingdom we preached in the whole world but the characteristics is lawlessness is it safe to say that lawlessness is escalating i don't think you have to have any discernment to do that i mean i don't watch much news these days i don't find it overly helpful but you can't avoid it it feels like it you know it's like water it finds the lowest point and leaks in things pop up on your phone or show up on your computer screen or somebody tells you or i mean we're witnessing an unprecedented deconstruction of our national borders it's creating a humanitarian crisis and it's not an accident it's untold suffering for thousands of people and those creating the issue deny it exists lawlessness being fomented completely ignoring the issue of illegal immigration versus legal immigration in fact they want to change the words let's not call it illegal all right so if i make a withdrawal from the bank or i don't have an account can we change the definition does it make it appropriate i don't think so we have a process for changing our laws and our procedures if we want to change our immigration policy there's a pla there's a a pathway in place for that to be done i've helped many people over many years immigrate to this nation we're a nation of immigrants it's a very positive part of our history but that whole notion has just been swept aside for other agendas and i won't list those you can sort that out but this kind of lawlessness is not new we shouldn't be surprised we've been watching this foment and gain momentum and grow for a long time for more than a decade we've had sanctuary cities it's kind of chic people celebrate it they put it in their pr packets you understand what it means major american cities that ignore federal law they just say we're not going to enforce the law in these cities lawlessness now we'll take massive amounts of federal funds but we're going to refuse to comply with the federal law we want our citizens to comply it's been tolerated and rewarded lots of examples we've been witnesses for months now of riots in our cities week after week state and local officials refused to intervene we watch businesses police precinct precincts being destroyed by mobs while we shelter in place elected officials said to us the national guard should not be used in response to such angry mobs until it suited their purposes today the national guard surrounds our capital in washington dc it's disorienting lawlessness at the highest levels of the land we see it other places lawlessness in the court of public opinion the sixth amendment of our constitution and i'm not a legal scholar by any stretch of the imagination but i can't read promises the right to a trial of an impartial jury but we're witnessing something at a level and a scope that we have not witnessed in a long long time the implementation of this court of public opinion as a tool of destruction it's been unleashed we laugh rather anxiously when mr potato head and dr seuss are attacked and we may chuckle but we look away from one another because we understand there's something inherently wrong with opposing soos while we promote violent video games and pornography but we're but for the most part we're still silent because we're afraid we'll be targeted and we understand it's a powerful thing the governor of new york is currently under siege i can't honestly say i've been a tremendous supporter but i can say i'm not particularly comfortable with the public assault if you remove the personality and step back and look at the process it should cause all of us some distress if the charges he faces were true we would imagine a person of good character to resign his position yet we no longer expect our leaders to be persons of good character so we take that issue off the table as an alternative we could say well let there be a full investigation let the legal process be followed except we're in the awkward place where we no longer trust the idea of a full and impartial investigation so we're left with an angry mob lawlessness and if i think if we get really honest most of us just prefer to look away because it's uncomfortable and it's unseemly let's watch a ball game maybe we can go to the beach it's renewing lawlessness will continue to increase until we choose to submit ourselves to god's law that's the resolution we're not powerless thessalonians chapter 2 beginning in the first verse discusses presents to us the season before the lord returns it's very informative it's as informative as a summary of spring in tennessee concerning the coming of our lord jesus christ and our being gathered to him we ask you brothers not to become easily unsettled or alarmed by some prophecy some report or letter supposed to have come from us saying that the day of the lord has already come don't be easily alarmed around timing there will be a lot of messaging that will be confusing amen to that well don't let anyone deceive you in any way if he's warning us against deception you can know for certain that deception will escalate for that day will not come until the rebellion and a more literal translation would be the apostasy the greek words apostasia until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed the man doomed to destruction the antichrist he will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called god or is worshiped so that he sets himself up in god's temple proclaiming himself to be god see right now we see the spirit of antichrist moving in the earth in unprecedented ways there's less tolerance for the name and the person of jesus than any time in recent memory jesus isn't welcome in the public square he's not welcome in our public institutions he's not welcomed in many of our corporate settings you can be many things you can behave in many immoral ways in fact you can celebrate it acknowledge it push it out there in the public square and you'll not only be tolerated you'll be honored but if you declare advocacy for jesus of nazareth and submission to the authority of scripture it's much less tolerant environment does that sound right that expression of the spirit of antichrist will continue to increase until ultimately it's embodied in an individual the antichrist can't assert authority in the world until we have yielded to the spirit of antichrist so fully that we would tolerate that leadership that's why your choices are so important it's why we aren't just church attenders it's why we don't just numbly gather in the building and endure the sermons then we can go live the life we want to lead we are not powerless folks the spirit that brought jesus out of the grave we're going to talk about that more of these next few weeks is alive and at work within us but you can look this individual's coming he will exalt himself over everything that is called god or is worshipped he'll set himself up as god he will attract worship yes i am the great problem solver verse 8 and then the lawlessness one will be revealed he'll gain that position in authority without it being fully understood his character whom the lord jesus will overthrow with the breath of his mouth and destroy by the splendor of his coming jesus isn't coming back on a picnic he's coming back on a search and rescue mission we will need his help the coming of the lawless one will be in accordance with the work of satan displayed in all kinds of counterfeit miracles signs and wonders the only expressions of super the supernatural don't come just from the spirit of god it's why you have to know the holy spirit so you can recognize an unholy one every sort of evil that deceives those who are perishing they perish because they refused to love the truth and so be saved i know that's where you're turning your page but that line is very significant men and women will perish because of a choice they make remember that notion of choices we looked at just a second ago because they choose they refuse to love the truth you have to make a decision that you will love god's truth more than you love the approval of the culture more than you you have to love god's truth more than you love an opportunity for profit you'll have to love god's truth more than you would love a moment of pleasure you'll have to choose to love god's truth those ideas will put you in a minority for this reason god sends them a powerful delusion so that they'll believe the lie and that all who all will be condemned who have not believed the truth but have delighted in wickedness there's an escalation in that the choice is made not to love the truth and once you make that decision the next step downward is that you begin to delight in wickedness i know we're in church and we'd all raise our hand at the right point but if you want a place for a little personal reflection ask the spirit of god to help you sort through the things that cause you to bring delight to you and if any of them are not god honoring begin to distance yourself from them we want to give ourselves to the truth of god and delight in the things of the lord there was a time in my life it's been a while but there was a time in my life where i didn't particularly like christians they annoyed me i could see all their holes and foibles and flaws and inconsistencies until finally it occurred to me that the reason i didn't like him and there was so little jesus in me i didn't like to be with people that had some in them and if you're more comfortable with the wicked than you are the believers there's a clue i hate to admit my parents were right on this one my friends did say something about me without using any words then another characteristic of this season before the lord comes back can be understood with two words and in a sense they're they're not exactly opposites in meaning but they represent two ends of a spectrum one of the words is apostasy we've already seen that of falling away and the other word is remnant and they really go together if there's a great falling away there's some who won't fall away they're the remnant and both of these words are very much a part of the discussion as we approach the end of this age and the return of the king there'll be a falling away people who stand beneath the umbrella of faith but will deny components of it they'll deny the necessity of the cross sin is not that big a deal we can work through it there's no uniqueness in jesus you'll hear a lot of that the bible isn't the authoritative word of god the formal word for that is apostasy it's a falling away from the truth but there'll be those who don't fall away a remnant the group who called to the truth you'll have to decide your choice which of those camps you choose to be in genesis 45 it's a different context but i've told you many times that the book of genesis introduces us to the big ideas of the bible by the time you finish genesis you understand the theme of the book the whole book and as genesis comes to a conclusion the central character is joseph and he's made his way to egypt it's been a very bumpy ride he's suffered greatly but he's in egypt now he's risen to a position of some power and his brothers the ones who tried who sold him as a slave show up they need food they're starving to death and their brother they sold into slavery they don't even recognize him greets them in egypt it's genesis 45 and verse 7 god sent me ahead of you to preserve for you a remnant on earth and to save your lives by a great deliverance the church in the earth remember that we read it in matthew 24 a moment ago if we will endure we'll have the privilege of preaching the gospel in the whole world there'll be a remnant of people god it says is not anxious for judgment on the earth because he doesn't want anyone to be lost he wants everybody that's going to choose to have an opportunity we have a privilege of holding out the light in a dark world what an honor we have don't spend your time focusing on the darkness turn your attention to the light what god is doing give your heart to it give your thoughts to it give your energy to it don't rage against the darkness turn up the light if you work in a dark place bring more jesus if you're if your kids are in a school that's pretty dark turn up the light [Music] [Applause] second timothy chapter four and verse three says the time will come now paul's writing second timothy is very near the end of paul's life in fact he tells timothy he's about finished but he's talking about a point in the future he said the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine literally it says they won't tolerate it instead to suit their own desires they'll gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear they'll turn their ears away from the truth and they'll turn aside to myths but then he gives timothy some instruction but he said you keep your head in all situations endure hardship it's going to bring hardship to you timothy when this happens but endure it do the work of an evangelist don't stop talking about jesus and discharge all the duties of your ministry what should we do when the time comes when people won't tolerate sound doctrine keep your head in all situations endure hardship don't whine he told us it was coming there was somebody that visited church last weekend they live in northern minnesota 50 miles from the canadian border i said how is it they said cold well if i went there i'd be tempted to whine today's cold enough but if you find yourself 50 minutes 50 miles from the canadian border and it's cold don't whine it goes with the territory and we're not going to get to the point of the return of the king just having a parade and eating cake well i don't like that duly noted i'd like to visit jerusalem it's one of my favorite places in the world but i would love to be able to click my heels together and get there because travel is not so fun flights get canceled they seat you next to people that don't know jesus but the only way i know to get there is about an 11 hour flight from newark or new york that's a long time on a plane it's a long time for me to sit still but there's not another way to get there so i don't complain i look forward to being in jerusalem we're going to see the king folks i'm running out of time second timothy first i'm sorry first timothy 4 1 the spirit clearly says that in latter times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits things taught by demons so what's going to happen there's going to be people stepping away there'll be still it'll be a form of religion they'll sit in church buildings and they'll have bibles and they'll wear robes and vestments and sing songs that you're familiar with but they won't acknowledge the uniqueness of jesus or the authority of scripture they won't embrace a biblical worldview that's called apostasy it's happening in unprecedented levels right now and the result of that is a remnant a group of people say no i'll stand for the truth and it won't always be easy but don't give up don't stop and out of that will come a season of intolerance it's a fourth characteristic now tolerance it's a good word historically we have defined tolerance as respecting the opinions of those who differ from you i have one opinion you have another we listen to one another true tolerance leads to a fair exchange of ideas and oftentimes results in cooperation and maybe even respect we can tolerate one another even if we have somewhat divergent opinions currently tolerance is defined in another way the current definition suggests that our it's our responsibility to accept the ideas we're told to accept and if you refuse to accept the ideas you are loudly labeled as intolerant because i've told you what you're supposed to believe believe it or i'm going to say you're intolerant think as you're told to think do not think for yourself in fact the current notion is that if you attempt to think for yourself you're reckless you're a threat you're intolerant for instance if you adopt a biblical worldview and believe god created us male and female if you believe that then gender confusion would not be something to address surgically or to celebrate or to encourage because the bible clearly says that god's not the author of confusion then there's something else at the root of that problem in a very real way our minds have become a battlefield and the passive response to that is just to ignore what's happening hear no evil see no evil christ followers have accepted to be a christ follower not just labeled one if you choose to honor the lord it means we accept the objective truth of god's word and that our worldview is shaped by the creator's perspective it's not about what i think i've chosen to submit my will to god's will that's the nature of this journey jesus said if you'd follow me you have to take up your cross daily and follow me how does that play out not enraging against our culture it acknowledges the battle within ourselves our mind is quite literally a battlefield in romans chapter 12 and verse one it says i urge you brothers in view of god's mercy to offer your bodies as living sacrifices the imagery is a little lost on us but to a first century audience they were still familiar with the sacrificial system in jerusalem and there were sins that if you committed the response to that would be to select purchase an animal and bring it to the priest and it would be offered on the altar so continually in the air above jerusalem was the aroma of the sacrifices being offered on the altar but before an animal was put on the altar it was slaughtered its life was taken from it now paul is using that imagery but he says we should offer ourselves as living sacrifices by the time that animal was placed on the altar it no longer had any self-determination there were no animals jumping off the altar and we offer ourselves as a living sacrifice we said god i'll serve you i'll honor you in every context in my life every aspect of my life we've drifted aways from that it's why i think we needed an awakening that god's been helping us with we're not finished yet we're just beginning i believe i'm more hopeful for the church and the earth than i've ever been to offer yourselves as living sacrifices verse two do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind transformation means to change in potential don't conform don't adapt to the prevailing standards of the world but be changed in potential how by the changing how you think we can't afford to let the messaging from a secular culture be what determines how we think we'll have to read our bibles we'll have to know what it says don't take my word for it i'm not the judge in the jury i didn't write the book i'm walking the journey with you but spend enough time putting god's word in your heart that you have a god perspective on what's happening in our world ephesians 4 and verse 21 says surely you've heard of him and we're taught in accordance with the truth that's in jesus you were taught with your former way of life to put off your old self it's been corrupted and to be made new in the attitudes of your minds we're supposed to learn to think in new ways we shouldn't think like the people that don't intend to offer themselves as a living sacrifice we're not just a difference because what's in the cup that we drink or in our wardrobe we're different from the inside out how we think the values we hold what we aspire to i know my time's up somebody has that ringtone on your phone and you did that on purpose i forgive you i really am about done healthy babies make noise i promise and if you download that ringtone i'll find you one last component it's important jesus gave us the information we don't want to miss it he gave us a threat warning he said before we get to the end the threats will increase i don't like that i wish it weren't true if i had my preference as you aged your metabolism wouldn't slow down do you remember remember your 16 year old metabolism ah what a food furnace i was right a half a gallon of ice cream and a package of oreos was a starter set and you keep turning that calendar and your metabolism starts to laugh at you you look at food and you get fluffy that's just not right but it's our reality and we have to make some changes to go along with it and jesus gave us an honest evaluation of the season before he returns we should pay attention it's in matthew 24 verse 9 he said you'll be handed over to be persecuted and put to death and you'll be hated by all nations because of me and at that time many will turn away from the faith there's a theme we've heard that several times now there's going to be apostasy and there's going to be a remnant they'll hate each other why would they hate each other because those who turn away will be angry at those who don't turn with them we've been told many false prophets will appear and deceive many people because of the increase of wickedness the love of most will grow cold global intolerance for christianity is going to escalate today christianity is the most persecuted religion on the planet persecution will increase i'm not being negative we've been given a road map and there's going to be many who turn away because of the pressure that's why we need one another that's why isolation is so damaging because if we're left alone and we're isolated and we're left only to the information that comes to us it's much much much much easier for us to be focused on the challenges of our own tiny world when we get together we realize that we're all walking through a difficult season we can extend a hand to one another we can encourage one another we can help one another it's not for an attendance number folks in fact when there's no people in the building it's a very peaceful place not a very effective place but a peaceful place and the betrayals will cause hatred there'll be false prophets and all of these pressures have one intended objective they're to keep us from preaching the gospel of the kingdom in the whole world but god said it will be preached so there'll be a remnant there'll be a group of people who say we won't stop we will complete the course we will stand up we will yield to the truth [Applause] what a wonderful message luke 6 it's the beatitudes jesus said blessed are you when men hate you excuse me i thought i was blessed when i got an award i thought i was blessed when i got a raise blessed are you when men hate you when they exclude you and insult you and reject your name is evil because of the son of man rejoice in that day and leap for joy because great is your reward in heaven how much time do you spend thinking about rewards in heaven i hope you spend more time thinking about rewards in heaven than any rewards you're pursuing under the sun heaven's going to last longer for that's how they treated the their fathers treated the prophets but then he gives us some woes and i'll finish with this woe to you who are rich you've already received your comfort and word to you who are well fed for you'll go hungry and what are you who laugh for you'll mourn and weep and woe to you when all men speak well of you for that's how their fathers treated the prophets i grew up around horses so woe is the word i know but woe to a horse is w-h-o-a it means stop the word jesus is using is w-o-e it means you wish you'd stopped i grew up in a barn i'm not complex when he says woe to you who are rich he's not condemning wealth he's the one who gives us the ability to get wealth when he says woe to you we're well fed he's not condemning good food he told us to pray for our daily bread when he says woe to you who laugh he's not discouraging laughter because the bible says a merry heart does good like a medicine well do you when all men speak well of you he's not suggesting you be such a rogue that there's not a good word to be found about you he's talking about the objective of our lives let's go back to our choices i set before you life and death now choose life what are you giving yourself to have you given yourself to wealth have you given yourself to gluttony the bible condemns gluttony far more frequently than it does drunkenness we just don't talk about it because we have a little problem [Music] don't give yourself to laughter and distractions don't give yourself to being an influencer with people that you don't even know offer ourselves as living sacrifices folks we're living in a most amazing time there's more on the topic we'll pick it up in another session i don't want you to be discouraged if you didn't hear last night you need to go back and hear it because it's the joy that underscores undergirds all of this the greatest honor of our lives is serving the king we will see him one day i'm going to ask you to close with me by making a proclamation about easter would you like to do that thank you for saying yes because it's the only exit i've got if if you'll stand with me they're going to put it on the screens it's not on your outline felt like we missed an easter together it didn't feel like it we did miss an easter together so i i want to i want to proclaim easter as loudly and as broadly as god gives us the ability to do can we make this declaration that comes right out of the scripture let's say it together easter reminds us that life is greater than death that faith triumphs over fear and suffering must give way to rewards and restoration this easter is a declaration that jesus is lord in our world jesus is lord over every pandemic jesus is lord over every government and government officials jesus is lord over the media and big tech and all those who imagine they can control information jesus is lord in our homes jesus is lord over our future jesus is the head of the church he is the image of the invisible god the firstborn of all creation by him all things were created both in heaven and on earth visible and invisible he is before all things and in him all things hold together those who are with him are the called and chosen and faithful jesus is the faithful witness he is the firstborn from the dead he's the ruler of the kings of the earth he loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood he's made us to be a kingdom of priests and to serve his god and father to him be glory and power forever and ever amen hallelujah god bless you hey this is pastor allen 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 you

Channel: Allen Jackson Ministries

Views: 6,291

Rating: 4.9589043 out of 5

Keywords: Pastor Allen Jackson, allen jackson ministries, world outreach church, alan jackson, sermons, preachers, how to be saved, Finding Jesus, pastor allen jackson sermons, Majesty Glory & Honor, Majesty, Glory, Honor, Prepared & Equipped, Prepared, Equipped, How Will You Serve the Lord, Serving the Lord, Serving God

Id: syWSuOef4Hg

Length: 49min 59sec (2999 seconds)

Published: Sat Mar 20 2021