What To Do In A Crisis | Pastor Allen Jackson

we're going to ask God's blessing that he would give us leaders in our nation particularly in the armed forces men and women of Godly character so that it would please God to bless us you see we can't put leaders in place that are ungodly and immoral and mock God and then expect His blessings so you need to pray for our leaders whether you voted for them or not that God will put men and women in positions of authority so that he can bring his blessings to us and I I can't think of any place that's more important than these men and women who serve on our behalf they run towards trouble so we can sleep at peace at night we thank you for what you've done amen if you're home you can stand and pray with us put down your pizza your coffee ice cream or whatever else you've scragged around the house okay we're going to pray let it be said of Our Generation they say the World War II generation was the greatest Generation I hope they say we were the generation that repented wouldn't that be good so that God could once again bless our nation Hallelujah let's pray father thank you we thank you for these men and women for the sacrifices that they have made and their families have made or they have stood watch and put themselves In Harm's Way and endured greatly that others might endure little we thank you for them tonight Lord we ask your blessings upon them where we even lack the wisdom to know how to pray father I ask you to minister to them to bring renewal and restoration and hope and a future where there has been great loss father I pray that you'll bring great blessing we thank you for those tonight that are standing guard around the earth those men and women amongst us who answer the calls and hurry towards trouble that the rest of us might know some measure of safety we thank you for their lives Lord You're the author of Liberty and freedom they don't come from governments they come from your throne and we ask for your mercy upon us as a people give us leaders men and women who fear your name from the lowest offices to the highest men and women who in humility will seek your face and have the courage and boldness to stand for your principles so that you might once again bless our nation we thank you for it we praise you for it we thank you for a weekend when we can remember may we not be too busy celebrating but may we pause to know that sacrifices have been made that we would have the abundance that fills our lives we thank you for it in Jesus name amen hallelujah before you're seated welcome one of those people who stood up and tell them you're glad they're here and say thank you such a privilege to be with God's people amen once upon a time we took that for granted never again never again you should have received an outline when you came in if you didn't maybe somebody near you would share that would be like a Christian thing you can tear it in fourths and pass it up and down the row that would be like a socialist thing or you can take your neighbors away from them and stick out your tongue that would be like a communist thing so do not send me an email okay the topic for the session is what to do in a crisis what to do in a crisis there's more than one kind of Crisis a few weeks ago while we were having service there was a tornado within the vicinity of the campus and we kind of scrambled to find safe spaces for children and adults that's one kind of crisis when I was in elementary school and that's been a day we used to do training for what we do in case of a nuclear attack guess what they told us to do you got that training too we got under our desk cuz in the event of a direct nuclear hit that desk is one protective thing I'm here to tell you don't need no stinking shelter you got a desk it's important to know what to do in a crisis because at that point it's honestly it's too late to be figuring out a plan you need to plan for a crisis before it happens so you need to have some understanding of what would cause it and what the implications would be and what's being threaten so that you know how to respond well I'm of the opinion that we're in the midst of a crisis as plainly put as I know how to the outcome of our current patterns of behavior will be a complete disruption of our way of life it's simply not sustainable we have taken God's principles and set them aside we have chosen Rebellion to almighty God not to some government now In fairness this isn't unique to our generation it has happened many times throughout history it's why the Bible presents to us a god of redemption a god of restoration because we need it Israel the northern nation of Israel after the Civil War was handed over to the Assyrians in 721 BC Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 587 BC about 150 years later neither of those tragic collapses were caused initially by military conflict oh there were armies involved and sieges and there were deaths as a result of military actions but the spiritual failures preceded the political realignment on the positive side if you get it right the American Revolution was made possible by the first Great Awakening there was a spiritual change amongst the colonists which made it reasonable to overthrow tyranny and launch a new nation so it isn't just a negative Story the people who turned their hearts towards God open doors of possibility that only God could orchestrate the need for American troops to wait ashore on the beaches of France and the islands of the Pacific arose because the people of God were unprepared and unwilling to hold the spiritual inheritance which they had received and the world was plunged into conflict in more recent times 60 million children in this nation have been sacrificed while people of Faith have planned vacations and done Bible studies even today the voices in favor of ending babies Liv seem louder than those seeking their well-being how can this be in the last few days in a something that you couldn't have made up up if you'd have told me this 30 days ago I would have thought you were just watching your own theater of the absurd but Harrison bucker a professional football player speaking at a Catholic University graduation a Christian School graduation appropriately spoke with gratitude about his wife being willing to be a homemaker and it's resulted in A Storm of upal his job's been called for many have demanded that his his contract be terminated such egregious Behavior he would have been labeled courageous if he denounced that he was the star in a drag show of professional athletes encouraging children to explore their sexuality his willingness to embrace biblical ideas has caused him to be vilified I don't think it is a stretch or it's an attempt to be in any way dramatic to say we are in the midst of a crisis what I want to be certain we understand is that we're not powerless we're not Spectators we are very much in the arena and if the church will respond in a way that brings God's redemption or we will respond in such a way that it brings his judgment I believe the initiative is ours I like that we're not powerless it isn't about our numbers we don't have to have a majority there is an authority in truth and we have to decide if we'll be people with the courage to become people of the truth or if we'll continue to hide behind a whole host of things that have seemed more convenient for far too long the study for this session really came out of our daily Bible reading I hope you're engaged with that if you're not let me give you a personal invitation every year we read through our Bible systematically day by day it's about a 10 or 12 minute investment of time a day and you can read through the Bible from the table of contents to the maps it's one of the greatest protections against the deception that I think you can have because it removes you from the realm of opinion pastor's opinions or Church's opinions or denominations opinions you actually get to know the character of God you won't understand everything you read you won't know how to pronounce every name I've been studying this book for a day or two now and I still don't so don't let that keep you from it but next up on our reading plan we're just wrapping up the book of Exodus so you know what's coming that emotional upheaval of [Applause] Leviticus and whenever we go to the Book of Leviticus I think I it's if I could provide some momentum I want to because I don't want you to read Genesis and exodus and then lose your momentum on the Bible reading I would reminds you that God put Leviticus in the book right so there's value from the thousand foot view The Book of Leviticus is a book of instructions regarding repentance hey that seems pretty appropriate for a group of people that are in almost wholesale Rebellion against God it's a group of displaced people they've been delivered from the brick pits of Egypt but they don't yet have a home and they're surrounded by enemies and they can't support themselves it's a group of people without the Sovereign intervention of God have no hope of a successful outcome sounds a whole lot like some of the circumstances we see so I don't know how much time we'll take but a session or two or three with Leviticus and I'll start with just the fundamentals because the fundamentals matter in any Endeavor whether it's Business Health Care theology Athletics the fundamentals make all the difference the higher the stress the better you better be at the fundamentals and that's true in our faith as well and the beginning point is there is a God it's not my opinion that's the beginning point of the book in Genesis 1 and one and that's the beginning if you don't know it says in the beginning God the opening verses the opening words of the narrative establishes there's a God and there's not a picture of me or you there and it it presents God as the Creator in the beginning God created the heavens and the Earth and and you've got to we've got to Grapple with this folks there's a God and it isn't us and if there is a God then it would be worthwhile to get to know him to understand his character and his nature there's some simple things the Bible asserts it's it's worth taking note of that God God loves people it's bizarre before you get to chapter 4 we've tried to do an end run on God we tried to work him out of the garden he made for us we wanted his place we were recruited for rebellion and yet the fundamental assertion of scripture without explanation anywhere from beginning to end is that God loves people you matter to him now that doesn't mean he'll let you do whatever you want he's given us a free will he'll allow you to walk into eternity apart from him if you want to but he won't bless you God does not believe in equity we're not all going to get the same outcome God loves people in all of our Brokenness in all of our Rebellion it's important to know it's equally true that God hates sin because sin destroys his people and because he loves people he hates whatever would destroy them and sin given the opportunity to be expressed in its completion will destroy us every time you're not kind when you protect sin you're not being merciful when you excuse it you're not showing love when you facilitate it because sin always arrives at the same same destination it's the destruction of humanity the third thing I would submit is that God has made provision for this sin problem that's the good news in the opening chapters of the Bible he tells us he has a plan and the rest of the stories to really help us understand the character of God to remind us of his concern and compassion for us and to help us if we're willing cooperate with his plan to Deliver Us from the consequences of sin it's no more complicated than that and we can get all our big words out and we can talk about hermeneutics and homiletics and exegetical correctness and whatever but at the end of the day God loves you and he's made a plan that you could spend eternity with him if you will cooperate but he's God and you're not and I'm not and we can't write the rules or Define the rules The Book of Leviticus is an attempt to take a group of people who have been slaves for 400 years they have not determined their daily activities for hundreds of years they have no remembrance of as a people of autonomy they've never been a nation they've never had a capital city they've never had a central government they began as an extended family in a foreign land with a family member that had some juice and they did so well they ended up being enslaved so for hundreds of years that's been their story and then because of God's Sovereign intervention and the display of his power they're really spewed out of that Nation they plunder the nation in Egypt and they leave with the silver and gold and now the assignment for God is to take a group of people who know Egyptian religion and Egyptian practices and Egyptian holidays and all of the things that would come with hundreds of years of being enslaved in a pagan nation that they know very well they've been totally immersed in that and now they are an autonomous people and God has the challenge of making them in to a unified group of people that know how to worship the Living God wow wow wow we we need more preparation than that to pass the driers test in 1 John 1 and verse 8 says if we claim to be without sin we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us if we confess our sins he's faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness if we claim we have not sinned we make him out to be a liar and his word has no place in us there are three phrases in there they all begin with a little preposition if and they're very different outcomes and they're really the heart of this discussion that I I'm at least inviting you to consider and contemplate in your own life if we claim to be without sin if we claim that and many many do religious irreligious sin's not my problem who has the right to say there's right and wrong Good and Evil it's independent it's personal it's subjective the biblical commentary is if you do that you're deceived and you haven't yet received the truth the truth being is that there is sin and all truth is not subjective the second option is presented in John is if we'll confess our sins God is faithful and just and will forgive and purify us well if there is a God there's an opportunity to be pure in his evaluation I want to know more about that I mean just on the outside possibility there is an Almighty omnipotent God and there's something you and I could accomplish do that would enable us to be pure in his sight that would be worth knowing and the third option there's equally clear it's not confusing if we claim we haven't sinned sin exist we're just removed from it then we declare God a liar and we haven't received his word you see we're asserting our self-righteousness over God's perspective because God said we we're all guilty we've all fallen short so if you know his word but you see that's not my problem of the three this is maybe the greatest challenge for the contemporary church we like to look through the windows of our buildings and go those people are the problem or you watch the evening news and talk back to your television I've been known to do that can you believe what they're saying I get more agitated when I listen to what's coming from our pulpits the middle option is the best choice to confess our sins well I want to just make three statements or about God that I I think you need tucked in before you get into Leviticus this will be the backstory God is holy holy is a word that's a little distant from us it's not a part of our our everyday language you don't meet one another typically go oh my you look holy today I doubt you very often get up in the morning and when you the first glance the mirror go so holy and yet the Bible says without Holiness nobody will see the Lord now wait a minute you've got my attention if if Holiness is a requirement well I like to think of holy as a different realm of existence we are not fundamentally we're not intuitively we're not instinctive holy creatures to be holy is a different completely different kind of being so when the Bible says that God is a holy God it's a it's a pullback on the curtain of his character he's not a mammal with better Behavior he's not just like us with a little more patience completely different being see it requires some humility for us to say that we prefer to think that lightning struck the primordial ooze and something washed up on the beach and it moved and it hung around long enough voila the Bible tells us that God is Holy that he's all powerful that he's all knowing that he's Sovereign look at Leviticus 11 I'm the Lord your God consecrate yourselves and be holy because I am Holy you can't hang out with me unless you're holy because I'm a holy God you can't hang out with me because you want to because you like to because you think it'd be cool you can't can't hang out with me because I got the best house and the best electronics cuz my screen's bigger than anybody else in the neighborhood I've got the best snacks I mean the Mana wasn't bad he said you'll have to be holy because to be with me I'm holy it defines my person my character don't make yourselves unclean by any creature that moves about on the ground I'm the Lord who brought you up out of Egypt to be your God therefore be holy because I am Holy remember what's happening God is introducing himself to them it's the beginning of a relationship that will shape the history of a people until today and Beyond he said I'm the one that got you out of Egypt I know Moshe went and talked to Pharaoh but I got you out I mean Moshi had that wonderful trick staff thing but it was my hand and now I'm telling you you're going to have to be holy it's important to know CU he's going to talk a lot over these next few chapters about what it means to be holy and the people aren't going to like it all and they're going to have a hard time keeping it between the ditches and there's going to be consequences that are going to seem oh so harsh I can't tell you how many people I've heard say you know I just don't like to read the Old Testament God is difficult no he's revealing the fact that he's holy is it cruel that if you keep your face underwater without a supply of oxygen you'll Dr is water cruel no you're violating the nature of the the environment and you can't violate God's nature and think you'll flourish well I don't like that duly noted well I don't believe that I know first John talked about that option I wouldn't choose it Leviticus is going to talk to us a great deal about holy versus unclean see there's nothing unclean in the presence of God nothing in the in the category of sin it's a completely sterile environment there is no sin there so you can't drag any in you can't sneak any in that lesson is going to be reiterated over and over and over throughout scripture so the invitation is to consecrate yourself kind of a fancy religious word to consecrate means to set yourself apart in Leviticus it's going to talk about all the construction of the Tabernacle this portable worship site that God's going to have the people build because there's still a people on the move and they can't afford any fixed fortifications so they're going to build a a traveling place to worship and God said the things that you use to worship you can't use for other things you can't cook dinner on the altar that you used offer sacrifices that's been consecrated for a specific purpose set apart for God's purpose and the biblical invitation is to imagine that you and I would consecrate ourselves to the purposes of God well if we get really honest that's not what most of us really wanted at least not at the beginning of the journey we just wanted God's help because we got a few problems maybe a diagnosis we don't like or some difficult people in our lives or we'd like a better job or whatever and we maybe if there's a God like oh hey hey hey hey hey little help who can teach me the three things I do to get God to do what I want you can sell those seminars all day long but the presentation of scripture is God says listen if you will set yourself apart for my purposes if you'll say listen I'm more interested in your will being done than mine you said then all the resources of heaven will be made available to you and through you you you'll be a light in the darkness but that's not easy CU I'm hardwired to say me do it and and that battle is the stuff of growing up in the Lord and we got to stop acting like we don't have that battle folks stop telling me when you were born again I'm grateful it's necessary if it's never happened to you today would be the day but once you've taken that step start telling me about how you're learning to yield to the Lord more fully what's been the challenge this week 1 Corinthians chapter 1 is not just an Old Testament concept says it's because of him he's talking about Jesus that you're in Christ who has become for us wisdom from God that is our righteousness Holiness and Redemption again the words get a little bigger righteousness is the ability to stand in the presence of God without fear guilt or shame Holiness is this attribute of the nature of God that is a requirement in order to participate in his eternal Kingdom righteousness Holiness and Redemption Redemption is to be bought back from a place to be purchased out of a place where you couldn't extricate yourself it's like a pawn ticket you got to go in and redeem whatever you pawn and Jesus walked into the slave market of sin where you and I were being on we were on the auction BL block can you imagine the humiliation of that it's the first century it was still a very prevalent thing in the Roman World you'd be sold under a spear they come into a Public Square and put a spear in a in a wall or a beam and stand the person being sold under the spear typically naked and the possible purchasers they want to do a full investigation that would be awkward and the image of the New Testament is that Jesus walked into that slave market and he redeemed us I'll take that one remember I said God loves you now the price was going to be his life but he said I'll pay the price I will redeem them so it's in Christ that we have righteousness the ability to stand in the presence of God Holiness that attribute of the character of God can be imputed to us through Christ Jesus and Redemption set free from the kingdom of darkness amen no there's not multiple ways into the kingdom of God it's not like a a smorgus board where you can choose what you want and Cobble it together well that's not very inclusive it's not my narrative there is a God I don't believe that John talked about you well I'm a pretty good person I'm kind and generous from time to time and I'll listen and I'm open-minded and John talked about you too we read those things remember 1 Thessalonians 4:7 God didn't call us to be impure but to live a holy life God didn't bring us out of the darkness of the bondage to sin so we could continue to indulge our carnal selves in impure ungodly things he called us so that we would become interested committed to living a holy life there's a second attribute of God you should know it's important it's a defining thing it's a GameChanger if you'll believe it that God is Almighty Almighty there is nothing more powerful there's no Force available to a human being that represents greater power greater Authority than the almighty God there are things that are powerful economic forces are powerful F military force is powerful there's a lot of expressions of power and authority in our world but nothing is greater than God he is Almighty and the outcome of that means nothing is too difficult for him there's nothing that we can experience in our journey Under the Sun that will cause God to go well I never thought of that what should we do he is Almighty in Jeremiah 32 the prophet says a sovereign Lord you made the heavens and the Earth by your great power and your outstretched arm nothing is too hard for you that does that mean God does everything we want the way we want in the time we would like him to do it hardly he wouldn't be God he'd be a puppet even parents won't do that no matter how hard you throw a fit if they're good parents God disciplines us as children he said if I don't love you I I won't discipline of you discipline is an expression of my love and the journey Under the Sun is more difficult than we would like that's a reality knowing god believing in God does not remove you from the arena of human suffering stop that nonsense but neither does it diminish the the the the power and the might of God there's a third Theory thing you should know and that that's God is all knowing nothing is hidden from God and he has the power to reveal whatever seems to be hidden it's not just about intellect it's not just that he has the highest IQ in the room nothing is hidden from him there are no Mysteries which he doesn't know or he can't fathom in Daniel chapter 2 and it's worth noting Daniel spent his entire adult life as a slave more than likely a unic not an easy assignment this is Daniel's commentary God reveals deep in hidden things he knows what lies in Darkness and Light dwells with him Jesus had a commentary on this in Matthew 10 he said don't be afraid of them he's talking about people who threaten you physically he said don't be afraid of them there's nothing concealed that will not be disclosed or hidden that will not be made n I find it interesting when the Bible talks about God being omniscient all knowing that it introduces that statement Often by saying don't be afraid I think that's helpful for us right now because in the midst of this crisis there is tremendous fear I don't know that I ever recall seeing the general public around me as afraid as we are in this season we don't talk about it a great deal you'll whisper to me quite frequently in the lobby after Services thank you or you'll express to me concerned for my well-being I'm a preacher I'm not a professional bull rider I'm not a linebacker in the NFL I'm not a ski jumper you know I don't go up to the top of a mountain and find the steepest possible slope and say oh I think I'll jump off that in the Israeli Army the paratroopers wear red boots I don't even like red boots I see those people I think that person is not smart enough to stay in a perfectly good plane but the fear is so pervasive that if someone stands up in public and says I believe marriage should be between a man and a woman or that God created US male and female and we are different not greater or lesser better and inferior just different we all understand intu intuitively there's a pro we say the CDC has not been on the up and up you don't have to have a PhD in biology to sort that little nugget out we're afraid we should not be afraid of our government so just as a as a foundation for this there is a God he loves you we have a problem with sin it will destroy you God has a resolution but to to in benefit of the resolution you'll have to cooperate with God and it's not a democracy he's not waiting for your opinion God is Holy he's Almighty he's omnipotent he is all knowing he's omniscient and the Book of Leviticus presents to us a God who is Sovereign kind another word that's lost on us it really is we we have very little interest in the sovereignty of anything other than our will the sovereignty of God is kind of a intricate way of saying God can do whatever he wants whenever he wants however he wants and he needs no one's approval he's sovereign and sometimes as you read through the story you'll go well that's not fair that's the wrong reaction what you're learning is something about the character of God and it would be good to adapt your thinking to include the character of God when he says Thou shalt not he didn't mean unless you really really really want to or it's inconvenient he is sovereign IGN and the Book of Leviticus as I've already suggested is a book of instruction regarding repentance what do you do when you find out you are standing outside the plans and purposes of God what do you do do you just try to live past it well there didn't seem to be any immediate consequence I guess I'm good so I'll just hurry on down my way do you rewrite your own guide book you see Leviticus provides a way of forgiveness for his people if I had to put it in just plain the simplest language possible The Book of Leviticus is a whole lot of talk about sacrifices and such not the sacrifice you make when you forfeit something but an animal sacrifice I mean it's literally it's a pretty gruesome book about what you do with these parts and those parts and which parts you burn and which parts you bury and which parts you wave and you're going what in the world but the larger canvas is God said listen we've got to learn how to be a holy people so there's there's this elaborate discussion around sacrifices and such I want to ask you some questions you don't have to answer out loud but do you think that the sacrifice actually eliminated the sin of the people and the answer is no the Bible's very clear on that did the sacrifice restore the people to a relationship with God did killing a bull or a goat or a turtle dove or a pitchon actually restore them to a relationship with the creator of all things no it didn't the sacrifice was an expression of the awareness the awareness of sin and of the need for restoration it's the same thing John was talking about in first John if you say we haven't sinned the whole sacrificial narrative was a wakeup call saying listen there's an enormous Gulf between where you're standing and who God is and this gulf has got to be addressed so there's enormous effort and energy and focus and cost involved God's grace was displayed in providing the fancier word is imputing Holiness to the people because you'll cooperate with the system I've given you he said I will impute Holiness to you but a bull or a goat or a turtle dove or a pigeon that doesn't really reconcile you to the creator of all thing but he said we're going to call it even for now living Bible it's grace extended in anticipation of a sacrifice that would bridge that Gap look at Hebrews 10 says the law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming the law of Moses the sacrificial system those things they got in the desert between Egypt and the promised land he said it was just a shadow of the good things not the realities themselves for this reason it can never the law by the same sacrifices repeated endlessly year after year make perfect those who draw near to worship it didn't make it didn't solve the sin problem then why did God have them do it is he just mean is he Petty is he intrusive see the challenge that we face is how is it that we can be reminded how can we be introduced to this notion that there's a gulf between ourselves and God because we tend to think we're pretty good if you don't believe it just turn on the nose I listen to people this week very successful people wealthy people powerful people people with tremendous gifts I mean they're living the good life and I heard them say things like I would be appalled if my daughter told me she wanted to be a homemaker our default setting is not godliness and the sacrifices were a way of reminding us that we know there's going to be a significant cost the purchase of the bull to offer as a sacrifice and have to lead the thing through town how many of you know Church would be awkward if you had to bring a livestock trailer every week with the animals necessary for your transgressions this week how many of you would be cattle farmers ranchers better know one I mean it was expensive that's why there's conditions when you read Leviticus you say listen if you can't afford this you can bring this God was interrupting their their self-directed evaluation and saying there is a God and I'm holy and we have a problem between us and the New Testament in the book of Hebrews it said listen that didn't make them perfect verse two if it could would they not have stopped being offered but the worshippers would have been cleansed once and for all and would no longer have felt guilty for their sins but those sacrifices are an annual reminder of sins because it's impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sin therefore when Christ came the Messiah came the anointed one the promise PR when Jesus came into the world he said sacrifice an offering you didn't desire but a body you prepared for me Jesus arrived in Bethlehem with galtha in full view because we needed a savior you understand how unfortunate it is that men and women who present themselves as Christ followers are reluctant to be advocates for Jesus in the Public Square well somebody will think I'm narrow-minded well I don't want to be perceived as less than inclusive folks you are betraying the one who offered his life for you I'm happy to be Jesus people amen if Jesus isn't welcome in the place I'm going I'm going to go see if I can make a good representation on his behalf if after I've done my best to represent in a way that is honoring to those that are there and told the truth that I believe that they don't want Jesus back I'm not going back amen I have no intention of standing in places if you're on an assignment that's a bit different and then we we get we get a little weird on this we know well you know I go to work and there's not very many Christians and it's hard yes it's called life that's that ambassadorial role we've got but we have been apologizing well we don't want you to we don't want you to bring your worldview into the Public Square now I'm sorry there's only one way I know how to do the business that means I'll give my word and I keep it I'll give you a fair day's work for a fair day's pay I'll treat the people I work with with Integrity all of those come because I know Jesus without Jesus I would cheat you blind if you gave me a half a chance hat and then I'd lie about it when you catch me there's a lot of history to support that narrative now there are a lot of people with a Jesus t-shirt that a lie sheat and steal if you want to do business with me don't start with a prayer I don't trust you when people whip out their Christian EES on me at the beginning of a place where we're not talking about Jesus I'm like what are you trying to hide behind those vocabulary words years ago we were starting a construction project on something and the the first meeting with all the brass and the company they said would you like to start with a prayer I said well I don't know do you pray with every client they looked at me a little funny and they said well I guess not and I said well then you don't need to pray with me I prayed before you got here I'll pray after you leave but please don't pretend it makes you less credible we've been embarrassed of Jesus folks we didn't want to squander an opportunity by being to Jesus forward what is wrong with us the best opportunity in our lives is bringing the king of all into every discussion we can in Leviticus there's some wonderful lessons about Sin I want to do a little bit of this CU I want to get to a a response point with you Leviticus 4 says the Lord said to Moses say to the Israelites when anyone sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands the category intrigued me the introduction to this chapter he's really introducing this concept of sin to these people he said if you sin unintentionally wait a minute if you sin unintentionally that's just like no harm no foul I didn't know I mean you're not going to hold me accountable you didn't have a speed limit posted I could not be speeding and there's just a lengthy discussion look at the very next verse verse three if the anointed priest sins this isn't the context this is the next verse of sinning unintentionally if the priest anointed the one you put oil on and commissioned him to serve in the Tabernacle if he does something unintentionally it will bring guilt on the people whoow you don't have to intend to do something wrong if you for whatever reason are not aware of the character of God and the nature of God well gee maybe I should read my Bible do you understand the of biblical literacy in this country where bibles are more available than in any nation in the history of civilization biblical literacy is it an all-time LW I sat with George Bara who's kind of the statistical Guru of American evangelicalism and he said less than 10% of Youth Pastors in American churches hold the biblical worldview I'm not picking on youth pastors that means board Church boards and preseries and Leadership establishments have been recruiting for employment people to teach our students in our churches that don't hold a Biblical worldview and that's because the institutions that are training them don't have a Biblical worldview and we keep smiling at their signs that say Christian please hear what God is saying verse 13 same chapter if the whole Israelite Community sins unintentionally and does what is forbidden in any of the Lord's commands even though the community is unaware of the matter if your whole group doesn't because if we think well if we all we can't all be wrong that's why when you get kind of your quirky theology you know we all get some bubbles if you can find enough people to believe that too well we couldn't all be wrong cont me verse 22 when a leader sins unintentionally and does what well the leaders know what to do surely verse 27 if a member of the community sins unintentionally these aren't the willful purposeful stubborn rebellious things that we all know we have a tendency to this is when you're trying to do the best you know and God said wait a minute that will exclude you from the community and in the very next chapter the category gets expanded a little bit he says if a person sins because he doesn't speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding something he's seen if you just stay quiet when you know what's right and wrong you're guilty boom doesn't stop there in chapter 20 says if the people of the community close their eyes when that man gives one of his children to Molech and they failed to put him to death I'll set my face against that man and his family and will cut him off from their people I'm not advocate ating violence folks but Molech is one of the Canaanite fertility gods and in order to better ensure better crops next year the sacrifice to Molech was a child so they sacrificed their children to give greater Economic Opportunity in the future gee that sounds familiar I mean we have other words for it but that's really the essence of the discussion and the the the the warning from God is if the people of the community close their eyes when that happens if you read The Book of Leviticus and you don't end up on your knees you're not thinking if you're whipping out your little baptismal certificate and say well I was dunked in a pool 46 years ago you're ignoring the coaching of the New Testament the problem we Face the Christ that is amongst us that is around us that will snatch our freedom from us in the near future if there's not a dramatic change from the people of God it's not an election we need an election will be the outcome of a change in the heart of God's people how many elections do we have to have and keep sending the same Knuckleheads to do the same thing it's like a globe Trotter game they meet in the locker room before it starts change jerseys and decide who's going to be on the winning team this time but we're all going to get paid from the same gate God's people have to change you and me so I brought you a conclusion the thing people say to me more 100 to one you know what can we what can we do what can we how can we I'm just one person nobody Li I don't have like PL I'm not an influencer I can't turn my social media on I don't know what can we do I don't have much stop if your name is recorded in heaven and the almighty God knows who you are you can change the course of history so I borrowed a prayer in the Book of Daniel and I told you earlier Daniel's a slave his whole life difficult difficult life has a remarkable story to tell tremendous victories when you get to Daniel 9 Daniel said I discovered by reading the Prophet Jeremiah that it's about time for us to go home Jeremiah said they'd be out of Israel's out of Jerusalem 70 years and Daniel said I've done the math it's time to go home can you imagine we have our parole hearing we're going home and then Daniel does the most remarkable thing he prays a prayer and in the prayer he confesses the sins of his people as if he was the greatest offender we don't have anything in the Book of Daniel to suggest that Daniel was immoral or ungodly or greedy quite the opposite he's he's quite the heroic character but when he recognizes that it's time to go home he doesn't go in the banquet circuit and start raising money he gets on his face and starts to repent so I brought you a portion of Daniel chapter 9 I broke it into three paragraphs because I'm going to ask you to say it with me but I want to do it in sections because I want you to hear hear the people of God saying be merciful to us I want you to say it but I also want you to hear it I I took it out of Daniel I changed the pronouns a little bit I gave you the reference you can check me if it's offensive to you I apologize we've got to do some become something more than students of the Bible we got to start to treat it like it's really true and if the people of God don't repent I assure you freedom and liberty will evap operate before our grandchildren get to be adults so here's what I'd like to do I'm going to start with these three sections one two and three we're going to do that first paragraph the one that starts with oh Lord all right when we get done these three sections are going to be quiet and these two sections I know there's more of them over here but you have bigger mouths over here I know you [Applause] this is where I sit I know it's true okay we're going to do that second paragraph Lord you are righteous you with me we're going to read it together and you're going to hear it and you're going to hear it we get to the third paragraph those of you that are in The Stadium seats you think I can't see you but I can we're going to read that paragraph the one that says now our God hear the prayers and petitions of your servants we're going to act like we need to repent so we don't go into Exile if you're at home you're not out of this okay if you live on the east side of the Mississippi you got paragraph one one with one two and three over here all right if you're on the west side of the Mississippi you got paragraph two with the big mouths over here in these two sections all right if you live in a city of more than two million people you can exclude your qualifications on East and the West you're a designation unto yourselves you're with the group that's in the back so everybody's got an assignment you with me we're going to repent we're going to tell the Lord this isn't somebody else's problem it's not about somebody else's failed character this is our story you see the people God delivered from the brick pits of of Egypt he loved them enough he set them free he got them out of the mess they were in but they still had to choose to walk with God and we have to want that more than we want anything else I want you not only to be able to say that I want you to hear it all right when we're finished we'll all stand and I'll dismiss us with a prayer all right have you know your pars now surely we can do this I know we went to school in Tennessee but we can do this okay all right we're going to start these three oh Lord the great and awesome God who keeps his Covenant of Love With all who love him and obey his commands we have sinned and done wrong we have been Wicked and have rebelled we have turned away from your commands and laws we have not listened to your word even though we have heard it even though it was easily accessible we have ignored your counsel and gone our own way don't let me down okay everybody in the room needs to hear you Lord you are righteous but this day we are covered with shame the men of our nation the women of our nation all of us oh Lord we and our leaders and our families are covered with shame because we have sinned against you the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving even though we have rebelled against him we have not obeyed the Lord Our God or kept the precepts he gave us through his word all of us have transgressed your law and turned away refusing to obey you all right let's bring it home okay now our God hear the prayers and petitions of your servants for your sake O Lord look with favor on your desolate Sanctuary give ear oh God and hear open your eyes and see the desolation of the Cities we do not make request of you because we are righteous but because of your great Mercy oh Lord listen oh Lord forgive oh Lord hear and act for your sake oh my God do not delay because of your church and your people who bear your name amen hallelujah let's Stand [Applause] Together God we're a people who need your mercy you have blessed us with great freedom and liberty and abundance and opportunity and Lord we have walked away from you we have made maintained an appearance of faith and an appearance of religion or we have served our own agendas father we have no excuses we ask for your mercy for your forgiveness for your cleansing and because you're a God who Delights in showing Mercy we ask that you might bless our nation again in Jesus name amen God bless you bless

Channel: World Outreach Church

Views: 24,127

Keywords: What To Do In A Crisis, World Outreach Church, World Outreach Church Murfreesboro, Pastor Allen Jackson, Pastor Allen Jackson Sermons, live church service, christian sermons, Murfreesboro TN, Jesus Christ, Interdenominational Church

Id: BPN02KuZQKk

Length: 57min 23sec (3443 seconds)

Published: Sun May 26 2024