Allen Jackson - Return to God
It's good to be with you again. Our title today is "America, It's Time to Return to God," and I believe that is absolutely the truth. But I'm not really imagining that the pagans or the ungodly need to change, it needs to start in the hearts of those of us who fill the churches or imagine ourselves to be Christ followers. It's time to return to God. Hey, so we're not the first generation with this challenge. In fact, it's laced all through the Scripture. Multiple invitations, multiple times, God pleads with his people to return to him, and I believe the shaking that we're walking through, from supply chains interruptions, to COVID virus challenges, and everything in between, is God shaking us, saying please turn your attention to me in a new way. Let's respond to him. Grab your Bible and a notepad, but most of all, let's listen for the invitations of the Spirit of God.
I believe God called this nation into existence. I don't believe it came about just as the result of human decisions. I believe Almighty God called us into existence. I know it's not fashionable right now to be patriotic, but I am. I know it's more chic to be a globalist, but I'm not. But then, I've never been accused of being fashionable or chic, so it's okay with me. What I do want to do is understand the heart of God. I don't want to cultivate some sort of crude, jingoistic nationalism that imagines that America supersedes everything else.
I've been telling you or reminding you that we all carry dual citizenship. You have citizenship to some nation state on planet earth, most of us I suspect are citizens of the United States, but you also have a spiritual citizenship, either to the kingdom of darkness or the kingdom of God. Your earthly citizenship, related to a nation state, is temporary. You have a temporary visa. You have a visitor's pass. The Bible describes us as being aliens and strangers here, pilgrims on a temporary sojourn. And the encouragement, the counsel of Scripture is not to become so fully engaged in the temporary that we forget the perspective of the eternal kingdom to which we belong.
So we all carry a passport that identifies us with some nation state, and that brings with it some rights and privileges and some responsibilities. And I believe whatever nation you're from, you have a responsibility to pray and be a light in that place. I had a conversation today with a gentleman from the Congo, and he has a burden on his heart for the people of Congo, that they would come to know Jesus and the blessings that he brings to their life. He had complete clarity that the only thing that would bring a better future to that nation was Jesus. I pray the citizens of this nation have that same awareness. That the only thing that will bring a better future to us is Jesus. It's not ultimately a political battle, or an ideological battle, or about parties, or individuals, or congress, or a Supreme Court, or governors, or mayors, it's a spiritual decision.
So, my first question is which kingdom, which eternal kingdom are you aligned with? It's far more significant than your nationality. Don't be a hyphenated Christian. Don't put something in front of your identification with Christ. My New Testament says that in Christ we're neither male nor female, slave nor free, Jew nor Greek. It's not about our sex, it's not about our nationality, we are first and foremost Christ followers. So, you're either consciously, by decision, a Christ follower, that you have acknowledged Jesus of Nazareth as the Messiah and you have accepted him as Lord of your life and serve him in that way, or by default, if you haven't done that intentionally, by default you're a participant in the kingdom of darkness.
That's the one you're born into, and there's no way, you don't join the kingdom of God like you join a club. It's not by joining a church and getting a membership card or going through a class and completing the requirements. It's a personal choice, and it's not based upon perfection. God's made provision for all of our inadequacies, and all of our failures, and all of our ungodliness, so that we can participate in his kingdom. It's an expression of grace. But having said that, I believe we have a responsibility to the nations where God plants us to be salt and light. It makes no sense to me to imagine you're going to be a missionary to someplace else until you have been a missionary to the people across your back fence.
In fact, I'm really not interested in sponsoring your interest in missions until I find out that you have been a very effective advocate for Jesus on the block where you live. I have traveled enough to know it's much easier to be bold for Jesus someplace where you don't speak the language. 'Cause I may be there for a week, I may be there for a month, but in some period of time, I'm getting on a plane and leaving. But to honor Jesus someplace where you live with people week in, month in, year in is a greater challenge. They've seen you kick the dog across the backyard, or whatever expression of ungodliness you prefer. If you love dogs, forgive me.
My father was a veterinarian, we considered that a win when you kicked the dog, so never mind. I believe we have a responsibility to pray for our nation. And as a student of history, I can tell you one thing, it's simply an inescapable fact that our nation's history is inseparable from the Christian faith. We have verses of Scripture carved in our most celebrated buildings and monuments all across our nation. Our legal system, our educational system, the principles upon which our businesses have operated, the things that have brought the blessings of God to us have not been our natural resources, or our industriousness, or some unique ethnicity, because we're a melting pot, we've come from all the nations of the world. It's been that faith, that worldview that has held us together.
Our first universities, our most celebrated universities, were founded as training institutions for Christian ministers. Again, a very clear part of our history. Those who founded our nation were Christ followers. It's not a perfect story, but no group of people have a perfect story, and I find it unacceptable that the Christian faith and the Christian heritage of our nation is diminished, or criticized, or belittled because we haven't been perfect people. We don't hold that attitude about other peoples. We don't hold that attitude about any group of people you imagine, we celebrate their rights to worship however they chose to worship, and we don't link outcomes of their chosen faith with the outcomes in their lives, we simply respect their right to worship however they choose.
And I'm offended by those that look at the Christian faith and begin to tear it apart and diminish it because we have chapters in it that are less than stellar. That's true, but that's ours to process, not some outsiders attacking our faith. And I want to say to Christians stop apologizing because you are a Christ follower. If you like to play baseball, you don't apologize because the Houston Astros were cheaters, you just like baseball. And we've apologized long enough. We have flaws and weaknesses, we will acknowledge those and admit those, but it doesn't diminish the commitment we have to Jesus or the recognition that our faith has brought to our nation, but it's our assignment to see that that heritage is continued.
It doesn't take long for a worldview to be lost. In fact, in this session I want to talk to you about America returning to God, because we're not close to him. We're not even in the neighborhood. I don't think we're in the time zone. We need to return to God. The good news is we're not the first group of people to wander. We're not the first generation to lose our focus. In fact, it's clear in Scripture that from the time God began to develop a people for himself, that he understood human nature, that we would not be able to hold the course. That there would have to be provision made for us to return to him.
I brought you some samples. Nehemiah chapter 1. I chose that, we could've started in Deuteronomy, but the list would have gotten too long. Well, I didn't think you'd wanna stay that late. This is Nehemiah, remember Nehemiah is the cupbearer to the Persian King? So the exile has taken place, the children of Israel have already made it to the Promised Land, they have lived there for hundreds of years, they lost their place because of their unfaithfulness. They want to return to the land, but returning to the land is the secondary component that grows out of returning to God. See, if we will return to God as the church in this nation, we will see God's blessings come again.
Nehemiah 1 verse 8, "Remember the instruction you gave your servant Moses, saying, 'If you're unfaithful, I will scatter you among the nations, but if you return to me and obey my commands, then even if your exiled people are at the farthest horizon, I will gather them from there and bring them to the place I have chosen as a dwelling for my name.'"
In this particular case, admittedly Nehemiah is reminding God of his promise to bring the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob back to a place on planet earth. But the principle holds true for returning to serving God, because their right to dwell in that land, that promised piece of inheritance, was connected to their spiritual condition. The reason they lost their place in the land was the condition of their heart. Again, the reason we have been blessed has had more to do with our heart condition than our natural resources, and if God's people will give attention to our heart, we will see changes come in our schools, in the way we treat one another, in the peace with which we can live together with respect and dignity we will give to one another.
Let's take just a minute and look at what the Scripture says about this refusal to follow God. It doesn't surprise God. You know, once upon a time, I spent a lot of time with horses, and you get to know their character and their attitude, and it's pretty predictable. You can tell their attitude by their body language, what they do with their ears, you know, how they're moving. You can tell whether they're in a good mood or a bad mood, whether it's safe to be in the space with them, or you need to be a little more cautious, and it's predictable. It's predictable around feeding time, I mean, just, there's a rhythm to it. And the Bible tells us that God is not caught off guard by human behavior, but he's made provision for it, and he has identified a pathway whereby human beings can be godly.
So, the real fundamental, the simple question on the table is do we want to be godly? In fact, if you don't take anything else away from this session, I would hand you that idea. To what extent do you really intend to be godly? I know we want to go to heaven. I mean, if there's a hell, who in their right mind would want to go there? So yeah, if the question is heaven or hell, I'd go for heaven, but kind of setting that aside for a minute, between here and there, do you really want to be godly, or do you think it's more fun to be ungodly? You just want enough godliness to be sure you don't go south, and I don't mean Alabama.
Romans chapter 1; the book of Romans is one of the most masterful theological treatises that has ever been penned. And Romans chapter 1 describes the downward progression of human character when we reject God, and it begins with two fundamental choices that humans make. It says although we know there is a God, it's not in your notes, but it's in Romans 1, although we know there is a God, we refuse to glorify him, and we refuse to give thanks. We will not give to God the glory he is due. He's not like us. It says that the invisible qualities of God, his power and his majesty, are made known in his creation. And I'm perplexed by the stubbornness with which we refuse to acknowledge God as creator. There's just no logic in evolution.
What do you know that gets better when left alone? The fundamental principle of physics is that energy is moving. We're unwinding, we're moving from a state of order to disorder. Even science argues against evolution, but we were willing to embrace it because we didn't want to accept if there's a creator you would have a responsibility towards him. So, if you think your education is so stellar that it keeps you from believing in God as creator, begin to quietly say, "Lord, I'm sorry, help me". I understand the tug of war.
My college career began in the basic sciences. I had a lot of courses and some big words around evolution. But the book of Romans says if you reject God is the creator, you're going to spiral down from there. And then it walks us, I didn't give you the whole portion, but I brought you a portion. "Since they didn't think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God," we just didn't want to dwell on God, "God gave them over to a depraved mind". You'll either fill your mind with God, or your mind will become increasingly filled with depravity. It's just kind of a fancy word for ungodliness, "To do what ought not to be done".
You see, if there's a creator, there are things that should be done and things that shouldn't be done, and that is the fundamental problem, because we're a race of rebels. We don't want anybody telling us there's a better way, that there is objective truth. We prefer my truth, and your truth, here a truth, there are truths, everywhere a truth, truth. I've watched the corruption of that system. I've lived long enough to see the corruption of that system. I remember when the ACLU, the American Civil Liberties Union, fought for the freedom of speech. I have watched them defend some of the most heinous behaviors in defending the principle of free speech in this nation. I've watched them in this season when there is a systematic attempt to censor free speech, and that group of people has lost their voice. It's not about free speech, it's about power.
Christians have been incredibly naive. There is objective truth. You can know the truth. I gotta go, c'mon, quit pulling me off topic. Verse 29, "They have become filled with every kind of wickedness," and then he lists about 19 aspects of human character that will deteriorate if you reject the knowledge of God. "They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed, depravity. They're full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice. They are gossips". You got gossips in the same category with murder, envy, and strife. Don't be a gossip. Don't wrap it in a prayer request, it's still gossip. Don't wrap it in a feeling, a leading, a prompting.
"Slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant, boastful, they invent ways of doing evil, they disobey their parents, they are senseless, faithless, heartless, ruthless, and although they know God's righteous decree, that those who do such things deserve death, they not only continue to do these very things, but they also approve of those who practice them". What's most startling to me about that degradation, that list of degradation, is the people that are walking that path know it's inappropriate, but they choose it for themselves, and they will approve of those who will do it.
Now, we know that's true from our own participation in an observation of human activity, right? If you're gonna misbehave, don't you want to recruit somebody to misbehave with you? Nobody's gonna answer that one in church, okay. Well, the Bible tells us as the closer we come to the end of this age, the more we will see that pattern escalate. It's gonna increase, it's gonna gain momentum. There's a tipping point somewhere. Some of it is because spiritual forces of wickedness will be unleashed in unusual ways. It'll be as if barriers are taken down, things will be unleashed, we're coming to the end of the age. The kingdom of darkness knows that to some extent, and there's an intentionality and intensity of their efforts to destroy humanity.
See, when you become a Christ follower, you become automatically engaged in a spiritual conflict. You have an adversary. Satan hates God. He forfeited his place there. Human beings are the crowning achievement of God's creation on planet earth, and Satan's objective is your destruction. Jesus said it in John 10. He said, "I came that you might have life and have it to the full, but the enemy comes to steal, to kill, and to destroy". Remember who wrote the book of Romans? It's not a trick question, Paul did. The Romans, he wrote it to the church in Rome. He also wrote 2 Timothy, so it's not surprising that there's common thought, and common vocabulary, and some similarities. In 2 Timothy chapter 3 in verse 1, Paul says, "Mark this, there'll be terrible times in the last days".
You know, when we talk about the last days, the question always comes up, you know, is it time for Jesus to return? And I certainly, from what I understand of Scripture and the prophetic passages, we are moving into that season when the return of the Lord is drawing closer. There's some big rock issues we could point out, nobody knows the day, or the hour, or the closest anybody would be as a season, and I don't mean an earthly season. But I think it's the wrong question, because if you don't have that sense of... if you have that sense of urgency, many of us have a theology that's kind of an escapist theology.
If we're getting close to the Lord's return, we don't need to worry about it, 'cause he's gonna come get us. You know, it's like, we're moving out of here, so we don't really care what's happening in the neighborhood. And then there's another group of people that say, well, you know, they're always saying the Lord's coming, so I'm not paying any attention to that. And that group of people doesn't have any sense of urgency for their faith. So I think a combination of the two, somewhere between them is the best place. We live with the awareness that the season suggests the Lord could becoming, but it's not just exactly as clear as everybody would like us to believe as to how that series of events is going to unfold. What we are told is when the Lord returns, will he find you busy with his business?
So, my best counsel to you would be to take every day as if the Lord were coming today, are you going to be engaged in a set of things you'd like to be engaged in if he were coming? If you'll live with that attitude, you won't be caught unprepared. You won't be like the virgins waiting for the bridegroom, or the steward who was given the one talent and buried it, you'll be ready.
So, Paul says, mark this, there's gonna be terrible times in the last days. A better translation in that sentence is the times will be exceedingly fierce. That's a more literal translation. They're gonna be fierce times, okay. It's like the pilot coming on and saying there's going to be turbulence, you can't get off, probably be better to buckle your seatbelt. They're gonna stop serving food for a little bit, 'cause you don't want to wear that delicious airplane food, but it doesn't mean the plane's gonna crash, it just means we're gonna bump along a little bit. If you've never flown before, it makes you panic, but if you've flown very much, you're going, "Oh, bother, let's go". So, you don't have to panic, don't say, "Oh, what are we going to do"? The Lord will bring you through. There'll be terrible times in the last days.
And now there's a listing of 18 or 19 characteristics, and it's very reminiscent of the Romans 1 list, and it describes the deterioration of human character. It feels, to me, Romans 1 feels like the the theological principle, and 2 Timothy is a description of what is going to actually feel like. "People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God. They'll have a form of godliness but deny its power. Have nothing to do with them".
Very similar to the Romans 1 list, isn't it? Now, what I'm aware of is how quickly we can lose an idea. We've never, I've never lived through a season where change was coming in such magnitude and at such speed, it's disorienting. It's a time of great discontinuity, when there's significant breaks with previous behaviors or habits. And those are times when you are much more easily manipulated or realigned, so it's very important in times of great discontinuity and turmoil to understand what your foundations are, because it doesn't take very long to lose an idea.
I want to pray with you before we go, and the prayer is really simple. It has significance, but it's simple. That we will yield our lives to God completely, no excuses, no provisions for our carnal selves. Let's pray:
Father, we choose to give you our whole selves, living sacrifices on your altar. Forgive us for anything we've held back, in Jesus's name, amen.