Allen Jackson - The Shadow of Paganism - Part 2
Our attitudes towards children reflect far more pagan perspectives than they have at other times. They are currently trafficking in children on our border in unprecedented numbers. They're being sold into slavery predominantly for sexual activity, and there is a deafening silence. We're told we shouldn't talk about it. It's a political issue. It's not a political issue. It's a human dignity issue. It's a sanctity of human life issue, and our silence, we will be asked to give an account for. I gave you just some sample verses. We don't have to read them all. It's an overwhelming point in Scripture: "Teach your children, talk about your faith, talk about when you sit down at home, when you walk along the road, when you lie down, when you get up. Write them on the door frames of your houses and on your gates".
I did an interview today with a woman who she and her husband have, really out of a personal desire in their home, but there's the families that have gathered around it and coalesced into an organization called "Parents Who Fight". When I first saw it, I thought that they needed counseling. But it's parents who fight for their children, and it's really, what they're trying to do is help parents imagine their children not being engaged with the social media, limiting their engagement in social media until they're much older than you would think, and limiting their access to cell phones. And she gave me some little tokens that she said when she's in a restaurant and she observes a family and nobody's engaged on a phone or social media, she gives the family a token because they had a media-free meal.
It's unique enough that we have to give out tokens. She said the kids at the table felt left out 'cause they weren't gettin' the tokens, so they get stickers. But the value we have attached to children, we have allowed to be determined by a secular, godless culture, church! Matthew 18, Jesus said, "Whoever welcomes a little child like this in my name welcomes me. But if you cause one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better to have a large millstone hung around his neck and drowned in the depths of the sea". You don't need me to interpret that. Don't touch the kids! Matthew 18, same chapter, verse 10: "See that you don't look down on one of these little ones. I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father".
I don't think annoying the angels in heaven is a good course of behavior either. Luke 18: "Jesus called the children to him and said, 'Let the little children come to me, and don't hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.'" I could go on and on with a list of other cultural characteristics where the church has abandoned the message and the values that have been entrusted to us. I would submit to you, we have to begin to talk to the Lord about what's happening from a posture, both physically and emotionally, of humility, on our watch. You need to sit and allow the Holy Spirit to live with you until you have a sense that we need forgiveness for what we have presided over. We have allowed lies to become so prevalent that we don't even notice anymore. We've become people who live so far from the truth, even in the church, as we call it, evangelistically speaking, which means I'm lying. We think it's kind of a polite expression for exaggeration, which is a big word for lying.
If you don't know how to spell exaggeration, just it's L, I, E. Don't do that. Now, I'm gonna bring this back to forgiveness because I think one of the reasons we have such a low sense of urgency is we have this perverted sense of forgiveness, that no matter what we would do, when we have done it, that there is no consequence for sin, and I think at the heart of that, what we've overlooked is that when we receive grace, we don't recognize the tremendous cost of grace. Grace is when you were shown favor or kindness that you don't deserve, you're making a withdrawal from somebody else's account. And for me to receive grace means there's had to have been a tremendous sacrifice someplace else. There are many expressions of grace in our life. We have liberty and freedom that someone else sacrificed for. It's why I cannot, will not, refuse to be silent when people denigrate our liberties and freedoms.
Folks, we have many problems. I'll be happy to help work on those lists. But I'm telling you, we wouldn't have millions of people flooding our borders, breaking federal law, risking all sorts of things to get into this nation if we were the most wicked place on the planet. Nobody's storming the walls to get into Gaza. So how do we understand this? Well, I took Luke's gospel, and I got a little bit of time. We won't read all those passages, but there's a theme that Luke presents. It's a single author. So there's this... do you remember who wrote the book of Acts? It's not a trick question. Luke did. So the gospel of Luke is the story of Jesus as in his ministry.
The Book of Acts is the story of Jesus's friends after he went back to heaven. So you have a consistent thought, a consistent vocabulary, a consistent set of definitions, which is helpful 'cause Paul and James define some words differently, and when you compare what Paul said and what James said, you've got to work through some definitions in order to get to a meaning, but if we stay with Luke, we don't have to spend any time with that tonight. In Luke 13, Jesus is talking. He said, "There were some present at the time who told Jesus about the Galileans," Galilee is a region of Israel, like Middle Tennessee is a region of Tennessee, and he's in Judea in the southern part, and he says up north, "the Galileans whose blood Pilate mixed with their sacrifices". They were unjustly, unfairly killed by a Roman governor.
And Jesus said, "Do you think these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Are those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them, do you think that they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish". Now, there's a principle that we don't talk about a lot, but there is a place in your life that, if you don't address it, means there will be no more forgiveness extended to you. The grace of God is not infinite. The key to forgiveness is repentance, and if we stay unrepentant, unremorseful, determined to protect our selfishness, or our self-indulgence, or whatever it is that we're protecting that is ungodly, and we know it, there is no more forgiveness. It's not some subtle thing.
Look at Luke 13, just a few verses later, "Jesus went through the towns and villages, teaching as he made his way through to Jerusalem. Someone asked him, 'Lord, are only a few people going to be saved?'" It's an interesting question. "And Jesus said to them, 'Make every effort to enter through the narrow door,'" again, it's very plain language, "make every effort". How many of you when you think of Christianity, think of making every effort? Make every effort, leave no stone unturned, do not stop, whatever it takes, whatever it costs, wherever you have to go, no matter what you have to endure, no matter what opposition you face, no matter what threat you see, no matter who says they will cancel you, no matter what deal you lose, no matter what the implication is for your child, "Make every effort!" he said.
This was Jesus. This is group hug Jesus, "Make every effort to enter through the narrow door, because many, I tell you, will try to enter and will not be able to". It seems to me, we talk about a much cheaper salvation. "Once the owner of the house gets up and closes the door, you'll stand outside knocking and pleading. But he'll answer, 'I don't know you or where you come from.' And you'll say, 'We ate and drank with you, and you taught in our streets.' But he will reply, 'I don't know you or where you come from. Away from me, all you evil doers!' And they'll be weeping there, and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets in the Kingdom of God, but you yourselves are thrown out".
Now, you can do some fancy exegetical work and say Jesus was talking about some other generation and some group of people that made bad choices, but if you'll adopt that attitude, you're just taking a pair of scissors or a bottle of Wite Out to your Bible and saying, "I'm going to eliminate the passages that seem in any way intimidating to me". The Bible is addressive literature. It's written to help us understand the character of God, and therefore, the responses we should be making. That phrase that Jesus ends that little segment with where he says, "There'll be weeping and gnashing of teeth," he uses it on more than one occasion. The way I have come to understand it, and I did it after some reflection and a bit of study, it's not just like some arbitrary decision I arrived at, is that it describes a very unique group of people, people who were in very close proximity to the kingdom of God, not people who heard seldom, or heard infrequently, or had limited access.
But when that phrase is used, it's usually used in conjunction to someone or some group of people who had very close proximity and opportunity to be participants in the kingdom of God. On this case, standing on the other side of the door. But they chose not to, and when the realization comes that the opportunity has been forfeited, their response is "great weeping and gnashing of teeth," tremendous angst. I never imagined that I would be left out. I never imagined I could be excluded. I thought the opportunity would always be there. Again, the message that Jesus is delivering, this time in Luke 13:22, is there's no more forgiveness.
See, I think we've been very sloppy. We've treated the Lord in a very shabby way, a very presumptive, arrogant, condescending, entitled way. We can live any way we want, folks. There is forgiveness of sin, but the practice of sin will lead you to destruction. We struggle with sin, where Jesus taught us to pray, "Lead us not into temptation. Deliver us from evil". We live in a broken world. To be a Christ-follower does not remove you from the arena of sin and temptation, but it better give you momentum away from the practice of sin. Luke 17: "Jesus said to his disciples: 'The thing that caused people to sin are bound to come, but woe to that person through whom they come.'"
You know, "woe" is an interesting word. I grew up around horses. Whoa, W, H, O, A, "whoa" means stop. If you scream it, it doesn't work very well. Because if you're screaming "whoa" in a terrified voice, my experience, the animal reads that as "accelerate". This word, W, O, E, has a completely different meaning. It's a word of warning. It's a word of impending judgment. It is someone shouting "stop". So it captures my attention when my Lord says, "Woe to the person through whom those things come that cause people to sin. It would be better for him to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around his neck than to cause one of these little ones to sin". And look at his next line: "So watch yourselves". Can you hear Jesus? "Watch yourselves".
This is our generation. This is the time in the span of history where our name got called, and we got an earth suit, and we were given an assignment to be salt and light, and Jesus said, "You better watch yourself, because if you cause one of these little ones to stumble, woe to you". Yeah, I think they ought to get the pornography out of the schools. Yes, I think they should quit pumping DEI into our kids. Yeah, I think we ought to take prayer back into the building. The only reason they could do all of those things and take all of those things out of school that were helpful and put all those things in that are so destructive is we haven't cared enough. We took 'em out of our homes and the practice of our families long before they took 'em out of the schools. They're not canceling Southeastern Conference football. That's way too important, too much money bet on it.
Have I offended everybody yet? I got three minutes left. Who have I missed? I wanna be sure. It seems to me, Jesus said one more time, "No more forgiveness". Again, it's not some subtle theme, folks. We have embraced a false gospel, that we can do whatever, whenever, any way we want. And then on some moment, when we deem that it's in our best interest or presents to us a better opportunity, we can feign some sort of sorrow and grief and kind of casually and flippantly say, "I'm sorry". It terrifies me. I believe in the grace of God. I believe in the mercy of God. If you look him up, you can probably find my picture. But I don't want to purposefully, intentionally, and willfully practice disobedience to the truth that I know, nor do I want to encourage you to do that.
Following the Lord is not easy. It's not comfortable. It's often extremely difficult. It will separate you from friends and family. It will lead you to make choices that a secular culture will not make about how you spend your time, how you spend your money, to what you give your attention. It is a call to be different in the world, not "different weird". Weird does not make you godly. You're just weird. But we have heard a false gospel. I brought you... so what do we do? I gotta wrap it up. The "what do we do" part is always important.
This is Luke again, chapter 14, Jesus: "Anyone who does not carry his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple". Jesus carried his cross through the streets of Jerusalem. You and I are called to carry a cross, not a physical one. "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it? For if he lays the foundation and isn't able to finish, everyone will see it and ridicule him, saying, 'This fellow began to build and he wasn't able to finish.'" Then Jesus gives the punch line. He gives you the meaning: "In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple". He didn't say "won't be," "shouldn't be," "might not be". He said, "If you're not willing to lay it all down, you cannot be my disciple".
Now, you may not understand the full implications of that when you are presented with the invitation to conversion, new birth, salvation, but we grow up in our salvation, and if you've been a Christ-follower for many years but you've never grown up, it's awkward, but it's time. And if you imagine yourself to be so mature, I wanna give you the invitation to grow on. Let's grow again. We haven't mastered Almighty God, and the evidence of that is the fruit of our lives. We are presiding over one of the most precipitous declines of Christian influence in the history of the Christian church. We would rival some of the darkest chapters in the Hebrew Bible for people who plummeted into paganism. This is our watch. I don't intend to accept it quietly. I don't intend to be meek about it. I don't know what outcome the Lord will choose to bring. That's in his hands. What we can do is choose the truth, you and me.
Now, I know there's a bit of a seriousness with the tone, but I'll give you one more verse. It's not in your notes, but you can check me. It's in Luke, same author. Jesus said, "When you see these things beginning to take place," in Luke 21 is his lengthy prophetic passage, and he's describing some pretty horrific things, some signs that will precede the end of the age. He said, "When you see these things happening, beginning to take place," he said, "stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing nigh". He didn't say, "Go get a bunker". He said, "When you see this, stand up, lift up your head! You see gross darkness, but I'm gonna display a light that will send the darkness scattering".
Now, we've got to decide if we want to be the church or if we're gonna cower in the shadows of paganism. I don't know what the Lord will do. I know what I would prefer he do, but he's not always taken my counsel. So what we can determine is that we will stand up, lift up our heads, and say, "Lord, we intend to be faithful. We will not recant. We will not yield. We're not looking for the easy path, or the broad way, or the simple way, or the way that's applauded by the majority of the people. We'll be willing to be different. We'll be willing to be separated, stood apart". You ready? I wanna pray for you. Why don't you stand with me. My time is up. Forgiveness, practice it. You can't be forgiven if you won't forgive. You're stuck.
If you're choosing to hold on to a feeling, a scenario, and experience, and wrap it in anger, and resentment, and bitterness because you're entitled to something, you're not, and you're forfeiting your future. Choose to forgive. We talked about it in great detail last week, two sessions ago. If you haven't heard it, you can go listen. Forgive, and then some of you need to receive forgiveness. We need to be serious with the Lord. "Lord, I'm sorry. I've been really casual with this stuff". When you heard there was a virus coming, we weren't from China. We weren't casual anymore. We washed our hands. We bought Purell by the gallon. You couldn't get Lysol anywhere. Man, we were spraying, and squirtin', and washing. We locked ourselves in our houses and looked through the windows. You'd get in your car and wear a mask. Just a brief aside, if you're in the car alone, the mask is not essential, okay?
We got serious about protecting ourselves from that. If we talk about spiritual influences, we go, "Oh, I don't believe in the occult. I don't believe that's bad. I don't believe it really matters what I look at. I don't think my sexual choices really matter. God's kind of open-minded". We'll take every sort of spiritual direction we've been given and treat it as if it's somehow insignificant. I think God is far more prevalent than any virus coming from a lab in Wuhan. I want to honor him with my life. We're gonna pray:
Father, thank you for your Word, for its truth and authority. Lord, we come tonight in humility. We recognize that we live in a generation, in a time where we have turned our backs on you. Lord, we have adopted a convenient faith, and an easy faith, and a comfortable faith. We have looked for the approval of those around us more than we've looked for yours, and we pause tonight in humility to say we're sorry. Lord, we're sorry for the choices we've made and the behavior we've exhibited, but more than that, we choose a new path tonight. We wanna walk uprightly before you. We wanna walk in integrity before you. We wanna walk in obedience to the truth that you have made real to us. Forgive us. We forgive those who have sinned against us, and Lord, we receive your forgiveness tonight, that through the blood of Jesus, we are justified, sanctified, made holy, set apart to you. I thank you that through the blood of Jesus, Satan has no place in us, no power over us, that every claim has been canceled. We praise you for it tonight. Holy Spirit, help us, give us a boldness to speak the truth, give us wisdom on where to stand, in Jesus's name, amen.