Allen Jackson - Breakthroughs Rejected - Part 1
We’ve been doing a series on breakthroughs. I’ve done several sessions prior to Christmas around these ideas of breakthroughs and how to open our lives more fully to these interventions of God, because I don’t understand them to be random. I believe they require participation to find their full expression. Mary had to say «yes,» Joseph had to participate, and on and on the list goes. Moses had to agree to the recruitment session at the burning bush. Well, as I walked through those preparations, it became increasingly apparent to me that there are more instances in Scripture where breakthroughs are rejected than there are instances where they’ve been accepted.
And I don’t intend to do as many sessions, but I wanted to do a couple just to really try to raise awareness to the fact that you can choose to say «no» to the Lord as certainly as you can choose to say «yes». Although God is sovereign, and he can do what he wants, when he wants, and the way he wants, and he needs no one’s permission, he’s created us with a free will, and he will respect your will to the point that he’ll allow you to step out into eternity without participating in his eternal kingdom. That’s not his desire. It’s not his intent. In fact, he’s made provision that no human being should have to, to do that, and in reality, he said the majority will choose that. That’s a very unsettling thought.
And I wanna plant a seed. I really wanna ask you to spend some time reflecting on it, allow the Spirit of God to make it real to you. You wanna think consciously about the places where you are purposefully, very intentionally saying «yes» to the Lord, and I would submit to you, you want that list to grow. You don’t want to reflect upon it. You don’t wanna, it’s not like a history lesson. These are the places where I did say «yes» to the Lord. You wanna be able to tell that narrative in the way these are the places where I am currently engaged with God, because those are the places where breakthroughs emerge. Absent those, I believe you are forfeiting God’s interventions. I want to unpack that in a little bit more.
I heard something on social media. A friend of mine actually made a post, and they were talking about people saying to them, «Don’t push your faith on me». They live in another state, but it’s bugged me. It stuck in my head for several days. You know, I find that as in the community of faith, sometimes we get captivated by perspectives that are very ungodly, and we will concede to them. When people say, «Don’t push your faith on me,» what, what resonates, what rolls out of me is, «You gotta be kidding me»! We live in a culture where they take worldview and bang you over the head with it until you submit, and then if you have the temerity to raise your hand and say, «Jesus,» somebody says, «Well, you can’t force that on me»! And I’m like, «I’m not trying to force anything on anybody except my right to give expression to what I believe».
Almost every form of ungodliness, or perversion, or wickedness has been endorsed and supported, promoted, and they’ll bring it into your home. And if you’ll say, «You know, would you please be respectful of my home and not do that here»? They say, «Well, why are you pushing your faith on me»? And the push isn’t coming from your advocacy for Jesus. And just to help you get the equation dialed in from a biblical vantage point, Jesus gave us an assignment. He said, «Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature».
Go into all the world, go find anybody who doesn’t know and tell them the story. Not everybody will accept it, not everybody will embrace it, but I’m not apologizing for being an advocate for Jesus, and please don’t feel that you should either. Not everyone will accept the message, not everyone you love will accept the message. You can love them in spite of their reluctance to accept the message. I will respect your right to say «no,» but I need you to respect my right to say, «This is important to me,» and that has nothing to do with forcing our faith on anyone, and that needs to grow in your heart. We’ve been timid for too long, we’ve been bullied, we’ve cowered. In the corner, we’ve hidden in the shadows, we’ve been filled with cowardice.
As you read the gospels over these next few weeks, you will find Jesus consistently pushing the truth in front of people. He was not timid. On multiple occasions, he made the disciples more than just a little anxious. So, having said that, how do we understand the opportunities of our lives? How do we understand the God opportunities? How do we unpack them? Well, I would submit to you that breakthroughs in our lives often begin as invitations. God will present an invitation to us, and it doesn’t usually come wrapped in a neon package or container that says, «This is a supernatural breakthrough».
In fact, it typically looks is like something rather inauspicious, maybe even something insignificant, maybe even looks a bit like an intrusion or a disruption. In fact, breakthroughs frequently are disruptive. They can be disruptive to your calendar, they can be disruptive to relationships, they can be disruptive to the plans you have made. All of those things are consistent with the biblical patterns. We’ve looked at many of those. So if there’s something in your life right now that’s a bit disruptive, it’s worth taking some time, both thoughtfully and prayerfully.
Remember our little paradigm, watch, listen, think, to take a little time with those things that are disruptive and say, «Is it possible that this was an invitation from God for a breakthrough»? «It couldn’t be that, it’s encroaching on my calendar»! «It’s gonna cost money»! «It wasn’t on my schedule». Has all the earmarks. There’s a third component. Their breakthroughs are typically, at least as the way they’re presented in Scripture, they’re frequently experienced incrementally, bit by bit, step by step. They aren’t usually presented in total.
When you read them, you think, «Oh, that was a total presentation,» but I would submit to you that the invitation Mary got from Gabriel in Nazareth with that first announcement scenario, you know, «You’re gonna have a child,» was not a complete, it was not the same understanding Mary had post Resurrection. Would that be fair? Do you think that was kind of an incremental breakthrough in Mary’s life? And I can take you to example. I promise, when Moses got recruited on the backside of the desert, he had no clue. He just thought he was going to lead a parade out of Egypt. So they’re incremental. What we have to be willing to do is say «yes» to that step that’s in front of us, and it’s not always fun. I think we’re often unaware when we reject breakthroughs. You know, they come, they’re steps of faith, it’s obedience, it’s cooperation.
And we don’t recognize it as saying no, we just feel, it’s like, it’s kind of a bother, «I don’t wanna do that. I’m okay, I’m good to go with the Lord. I know him well enough. I feel pretty comfortable with my relationship. I don’t wanna do that. I don’t want to engage that way. I don’t wanna make time for that. I don’t wanna make a financial sacrifice in that. I don’t wanna do that». And we’re not processing it in terms of that could be an invitation from the Lord, so I wanna suggest to you that you begin to more purposefully learn to say «yes» to God’s invitation. If you get invited to do ministry around here, you sign a commitment sheet for a period of time. It has a beginning point and an ending point. You’re not signing up until Jesus returns. 'Cause years ago, we realized one of the awkward points of volunteering is churches. You can’t quit.
You know, you have to have an angelic visit, «Well, the Lord spoke to me and said I should be released from my», that’s not good. You should be able to say, «I’m gonna do this for a year». And we should be able to say to you, «We don’t want you to do that anymore». Both sides of that equation have to be in place! «Now he’s getting weird». Hebrews 13 and verse 2 says, «Don’t forget to entertain strangers, for by doing so some people have entertained angels without knowing it». If we put up a QR code and said, «If you’ll submit your name, you could host an angel this week,» I bet most of you would have time.
Some of you would wait and see how it worked, but the early adopters, you’d be all in! But the admonition of Scripture, the council of Scripture is you need to entertain people you don’t know, people that you’re not really expecting a return on because, in so doing, you will inadvertently, from time to time, entertain an angel. I think it’d be really unfortunate to make it all the way into eternity and meet all the angels that were on your to-do list that you never made space for. I heard you were a good cook, never got that opportunity. I’ve tried to think about my own journey in times and places where I think I was, for whatever reason, I was able to say «yes» to an invitation, not understanding the fullness of it and the times when I’ve said «no,» and I can think of components on both sides of the equation.
Years ago, my brother and I went to Hebrew University. It was before the Internet. It wasn’t easy to get information. I had to do it in the old-fashioned way in a library with a card catalog and snail mail and, you know, you forget how much more difficult it was to secure information once upon a time. And with really limited information, we raised our hands and said, «Yeah, we’ll go study». And I knew very little about what I was going into, and it wasn’t always fun. We were required for more than two months to go to language school before we could even start classes at the university, six days a week, eight hours a day, immersed in Hebrew.
And by that time, I’d been in a lot of university settings, and if they invite you to go to school, they usually had a way to feed you. Well, they didn’t open any of the food service at Hebrew University until we were through language school, so they sent you to the grocery store to buy groceries, and I couldn’t read them. We bought dog food. It looked like ground beef. We had it in the skillet before an Israeli friend walked in and started laughing at us. Thank God the timing on it was good. But that season in Israel has born fruit for all the years since then.
I really didn’t understand it at the time that it was an invitation from the Lord, didn’t feel like a breakthrough to me, felt expensive, and disruptive, and against the flow of what my peer group was doing, and I mean, it just, it didn’t have earmarks of, you know, after the fact, it sounds really fun, and people say, «I’d like to do that,» but there’s not like a big line. It wasn’t any safer to do it then than it is now. And then I think of the places where I missed it. Sometimes they seem more, in retrospect, I go, «How could you have missed that, Knucklehead»?
A few years ago, it was before COVID, but a few years ago, a friend of mine, Angus Buchan, decided to have a prayer event in South Africa, and he only had like eight weeks lead time. And the week he announced it, he called, and he said, «Allen, I want you to be there, I need you to be there, it’s important». «It’s not a good time, Angus, a lot going on at the church, and I’m busy, and South Africa’s, that’s a ways. Not sure I can do that. Let me work on that». He said, «Well, there’s gonna be a crowd, Allen». «Yeah, I know». And I didn’t think we could… I just decided I couldn’t make it work. The calendar was too crowded and I couldn’t. And I don’t even remember why, but Charlie Daniels was here one weekend. Before he went to heaven, he was in church. But it wasn’t typical for me to visit with Charlie, and I just remember, we were backstage, and he said, «Allen, are you going to see Angus»?
I don’t know how he knew about it. I said, «No, sir, I don’t think so». And he said, «Allen, you’re wrong, you should go». And Charlie didn’t give me direction. I mean, he wanted me to sing with him a lot on albums, but. That’s a lie. But I remember it really clearly. He stopped, and he looked at me, and he said, «Allen, you won’t have an opportunity like that. You need to go». He said, «You won’t see a gathering of people like that anywhere in the world. You need to be there». And I didn’t go. Oh, yeah, I know. It seems obvious now. I mean, after the fact, yeah, there were four million people there, and I mean, I understand God did something remarkable and, but what I could see is I was busy, and it was expensive, and I missed it. It’s more fun to tell the stories when you get it.
So I’m living with this these days, 'cause God’s moving in the earth, and I don’t wanna miss it. I don’t wanna say «I’m born again,» or «Spirit-filled,» or «I read my Bible,» or «I’ve been here,» or «done that,» or «experienced this,» or all the junk we do to give ourselves a pass for these invitations to breakthroughs. 'Cause in my life, they typically feel like kind of a nuisance. I mean, I’m life’s already had… anybody here, like, just bored to tears, can’t think of anything to do? Yeah, I didn’t think so. So we’re gonna look at some people that don’t get it right and maybe it’ll help us gain some momentum in saying «yes».
Acts chapter 13, that the church is just trying to get their legs underneath them, the pressure in Jerusalem has grown to the point that they’re beginning to spread a bit, Saul of Tarsus has been recruited by the Lord himself, Jesus stepped back in time. How would that make you feel if you’re part of that original group that he recruited and spent three years training and before you’ve gone very far, the pressure’s grown, you’re fragmenting a little bit, and Jesus comes back and recruits a rabbi? Jesus comes back and recruits a Pharisee and says, «Here’s the help you need». «No, we’re doing quite well, thank you». They didn’t want anything to do with Saul of Tarsus. He’s an angry, violent, murderous, he’s the opposition.
Why did you have to recruit the opposition? It took an intermediary to get Paul, and James, and John, and the crew in Jerusalem to even let Saul to the table. And now Paul, Saul, and Barnabas are gonna, their first trip, their first, they’re turning the gospel outward, which is blowing the minds of the Jewish community. When I was at Hebrew University, one of my most engaging classes was an Orthodox, and he was, all the professors were Jewish, but when I say Orthodox, he kept the rules. There’s as much diversity within the Jewish community as there is diversity within the Christian community. You understand? Some Christians have dress codes, and jewelry codes, and beverage codes, and some Christians don’t even acknowledge the authority of Scripture or people that wear the label «Christian,» right?
The same diversity in the Jewish community. This faculty member was Orthodox. He kept the rules, he wore his prayer shawl, he washed his hands so frequently as a part that they were constantly chapped. He was brilliant, just a brilliant guy. We could turn our papers in in eight different languages. I chose English. But he did two lectures on Jesus, and I’ll never forget it, 'cause he had the sharpest wit. Nobody would say anything in class 'cause he would cut you to ribbons, he was good. And the only time I ever saw him at a loss for words or awkward was when he talked about Jesus. And he said, «There’s no question». He said, «It’s just absolutely clear in Scripture that that early group of believers in Jerusalem believed that Jesus had died on a cross and been raised to life again».
And I remember, he kinda hung his head for a moment, and he said, «If I believed that, I would be a Christian too». Well, Jesus recruited an Orthodox keeper of the rules. And that professor one day said, he read in Acts 1, where Jesus said, «The Holy Spirit will empower you to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth». Well, Jerusalem’s the city, Judea is the region, Samaria is the next region. And he looked at the class, and he said, «I promise you, to that audience, they thought Samaria was the end of the earth». They didn’t think the story was going past the Mediterranean, the edge of the Mediterranean. And now here’s Saul in Acts 13, and they’ve turned, they’re facing out.
Now, that’s where we’re gonna step in. «In the Church of Antioch there was a prophet». There were prophets and teachers: Barnabas, Simeon, Lucius, Manaen. And while they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, «Set apart from me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I’ve called them. So after they had fasted and prayed, they placed their hands on them and they sent them off». They had to get sent off to do the work. Can you imagine having the imagination God’s called you to something? Please don’t use that as an excuse. I cannot tell you how many conversations I’ve had with people, «If I just knew what God wanted me», I can help you, you’ve been empowered to be a witness for him in your home, on your block, in your community. «Until we do that, we’ve got…», no, that’s the assignment.
«Well, I’m an introvert». Good, he’ll use introverts. «I’m not good with words». He recruited Moses. «Well, I’ve been an angry anti-Christian». He chose Saul. All my excuses, he’s got one of 'em in the Hall of Fame.
So they’ve sent off Barnabas and Saul, and in verse 4, «The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and they sailed there to Cyprus,» it’s an island just off the coast of Israel, still there, «When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as a helper,» John Mark, not… «And they traveled through the whole island until they came to Paphos. And there they met a Jewish sorcerer and a false prophet named Bar-Jesus, who was an attendant of the proconsul, Sergius Paulus. And the proconsul, an intelligent man, sent for Barnabas and Saul because he wanted to hear the word of God. But the sorcerer opposed them and tried to turn the proconsul from the faith. Then Saul, who was called Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, looked straight at him and said, 'You’re a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right! '»
For all of you that think kindness, «thou shalt be kind,» is the 11th commandment, please hear what Paul said. He looked at a very powerful man on the island of Cyprus, and he said, «You are a child of the devil and an enemy of everything that is right»! Jesus loves you, «'You are full of all kinds of deceit and trickery. Will you never stop perverting the right ways of the Lord? Now the hand of the Lord is against you. And you’re gonna be blind, and for a time you’ll be unable to see the light of the sun.' And immediately mist and darkness came over him, and he groped about, seeking someone to lead him by the hand. When the governor saw what had happened, he believed, for he was amazed at the teaching about the Lord».
Now we’ve got a little narrative here before you turn your page. Maybe you wanna circle some names, 'cause you’ve got some characters being introduced and you need to think about their roles, their assignments, who’s gonna cooperate with the Lord? There’s a breakthrough happening, revival’s breaking out, the Spirit of God is moving in the world in a way it had never moved before, Barnabas and Saul are on board, the community of faith that they have been a part of had enough clarity from the Lord that they said, «We think you should go». And they were in enough unity that they said, «We will go». And they get to Cyprus. It says, «They were sent on their way,» in verse 4, «by the Holy Spirit». You’re not just recruiting somebody to read your Bible in the new year because it’s an assignment from Pastor. God is moving in the earth. So you will never believe there’s a supernatural component to what you’re doing until you’re willing to believe there’s a supernatural component to what you’re doing.
I wanna pray with you before we go, but I just wanna remind you, we don’t have to outthink evil or outwork evil. We don’t have to be louder than evil. We need to understand the authority that is ours in Jesus’s name and the power of his shed blood. It changes everything. I wanna pray with you.
Father, I thank you that, through the name of Jesus, we have been delivered out of the hand of the devil, that he has no power over us, no authority over us, in Jesus’s name. And I pray that that truth would take root in our hearts and enable us to live with great boldness, in Jesus’s name, amen.