Allen Jackson - A Battle In The Mind - Part 1
I’m gonna extend it one more time that invitation. We’ve been reading our Bibles around here for a long time. That’s not new. I hope you’ve joined us in that. If you haven’t, come on. But this year, I changed the invitation just a bit. I said let’s focus on the four Gospels as we begin our year. That’s not really new. You can read through Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John in about 60 days with that same commitment of time. What I’ve asked you to do is include somebody else. Don’t let it just be about us. A co-worker, a family member, a friend, a neighbor, whomever the Lord puts on your heart, the stories you’re bringing back are remarkable. One man said he recruited sixteen people.
One woman told me her sister lives in another state and she has a long commute to work, and they read it together while she’s commuting. You’ll have your own narrative. Let’s not leave it to ourselves. Take your faith and live it out. Lead with your faith. Not everybody will say yes. Not everybody said yes to Jesus. «Well, Pastor, you know, why would I do that? Why does it make any difference»? Because people’s invitations in your life shape your future. The people that you spend time with purposefully, your discretionary time, the enthusiasm and the passion of the people that you give your discretionary time to, shapes your future. Why not help shape the future for someone else towards the kingdom of God? If your attitude has been, «Well, it’s not really my problem, you know. I’m gonna repent». We’re not gonna find ourselves in a better place until we have a change of heart.
And so, I’m excited about every place I’ve been, every opportunity I’ve had for the last few weeks. I’ve been extending this invitation. I don’t know how many people will say yes. I don’t know what the impact was. I talked to some organizations and they said they weren’t overly interested, but it’s okay. Some are. And we’re gonna read our Bibles. It will bring the blessing of God to your life, to your home, and I believe it could bring it to our nation. The outcome is in the Lord’s hands. But what we can do is read the Gospels. It’s a pretty easy invitation. Almost everybody knows the primary characters. Almost everybody’s heard of Jesus. Most folks know something about Mary and Joseph. They’ve probably heard about Bethlehem. They’ve probably heard something about Jerusalem, so they know the primary characters and the big cities before they even read. It’s a much lighter lift than Leviticus.
You know, when you get your invitation muscles really built up, then we’ll go invite somebody to read Leviticus and Numbers with us. Well let’s start with the Gospels, amen? Very good. I hope you received an outline when you came in. If you didn’t, perhaps someone near you would share. If you’re joining us online, you can download those same outlines from the website or the app. The scriptures we’ll look at will be helpful, I believe. We’re working through a study under the general heading of «Stormproof Foundations». How do we storm proof our lives? Jesus told us storms would come to everybody. And if you’ve had enough birthdays, you know that to be true. But Jesus said it’s possible to establish our lives in such a way that the storms don’t bring total devastation and destruction. We may lose things, they may rearrange our schedule, they may intrude, they may be disappointments, but we can survive the storms. That was Jesus coaching.
So, we’re trying to understand that. In this session, I want to talk a bit more about the battle in our mind. I typically imagine before we lose things and possessions, we have forfeited something in our mind. That seems to be where the battles begin. And it’s often not okay to talk about it in polite company even in church world. We’re often not sure how to talk about that. It’s an important weekend, I believe. We’re in the midst of a transition of power in our nation and it’s a little halting. Our freedoms have been tenuous for a while. We’ve lost things that have been staples of our lives, things like free speech, borders, fiscal responsibility and it extends beyond any single party.
So please, we’ve had a long litany of this until we have deteriorated to the point that we no longer are confident we can even have a fair election, an election where citizens vote. We’re not sure that we can transfer power. Whichever side you’re on, there’s questions around that. The course we’re on is unsustainable without a significant transformation. I have great hope because we serve a God of redemption and transformation and renewal, and I believe that’s possible. But I believe it’s very important for the people of God to take a role in that. There’s good news. I’ve started my year trying to encourage everybody that will listen to build the good news list. I hope you’ve done that or I hope you are doing that.
There’s been some remarkable things said. Truth that’s been hidden, denied, covered up, has come into the open. That’s really good news. Truth brings freedom. We know that the NIH was actually funding gain of function research In Wuhan. That might have been more helpful four years ago, but it’s really good news that it’s in the public square. Mark Zuckerberg says, «Surprise». They’d been practicing censorship, but the good news is they want to stop. That’s really, really good news. I mean, almost everywhere you look, there are things taking place that forebode some positive things in our lives. This is inaugural weekend if you’ve missed that. In spite of some invitations to go to some gatherings in Washington, I have to, I haven’t always paid much attention to inaugurations.
I, you know, I knew there were a lot of parties. I didn’t know they were expensive. I live in Tennessee. Somebody called and say, «Will you come go to this party»? We go, «No, I think we’re good». And they said, «Well, it’s really expensive and we’ll give you a ticket». And I’m like, «No, I’m really good, but thank you». It felt really important to be together this weekend. I believe the future depends upon the people of God. I’m grateful for people who will lead. I’m very grateful for people who will disrupt their lives to provide leadership. I’m more closely acquainted with, for Governor Huckabee to go to Israel, he had to turn his life upside down to accept that assignment. To move away from family and grandchildren, he had to turn his professional life upside down. I’ve been involved in more than one conversation where it was a significant realignment of his life. It’s a sacrifice.
You say it’s an honor, but it’s a sacrifice. And I’m grateful for those people, but the outcome, the sustainability will have more to do with the people of faith than it will the politicians. Otherwise, we’ll have a change of administrations and a new slew of executive orders and we will see a whole new direction emerge. We have to have a change of heart, folks. So, we’re looking at how to storm proof our lives. I want to start with the assignment at 2 Timothy 2. I’m gonna move pretty quickly, so listen fast. Can you do that?
2 Timothy is a letter written very near the end of Paul’s life for what we understand to be the end of his life. He’s coaching a young man that he’s been mentoring. He said, «You then, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things you’ve heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others. Endure hardship with us like a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No one serving as a soldier gets involved in civilian affairs, he wants to please his commanding officer. Similarly, if anyone competes as an athlete, he doesn’t receive the victor’s crown unless he competes according to the rules. The hardworking farmer should be the first to receive a share of the crops. Reflect on what I’m saying, for the Lord will give you insight into all of this».
He’s coaching a young man. I don’t wanna stay a long time, but that I would submit to you that the nature of that, the tone of that is difficult. It’s kind of hard language. It’s not soft or squishy or accommodating. He’s using images that invoke effort and risk and threat and perspiration, all of them. He starts by saying, «Be strong in the grace that’s in Christ Jesus». You think about being strong in grace? It seems to me we’re kind of soft in grace. Grace is unearned, unmerited. If it has anything to do with merit, it’s not grace. The goodness of God, the kindness of God, the blessing of God that comes to us because of no merit on our part, you should be strong in that. Understand what you’ve received. Let it be the defining edge of your life. I have received so much. How could I give less back?
That’s not the tone we typically embrace with grace. And then he gives Timothy an assignment. He said, «You’ve got to entrust this to reliable men, not to anybody. Find those who are reliable». May I ask you a question? Are you a reliable person? Don’t give me the soft, you know, «Well, I hope to be. Well, I would like to be. I aspire to be». We borrow Yoda, «Do or do not, there is no trying». Are you a reliable person? And then Paul says we have to endure hardship. Endure hardship as in the context of our faith. It’s been generations since we’ve thought about that. Hardship for us is when the sermon’s too long. You missed a good opportunity for an amen. I’m just gonna. I mean, hardship for us in the context of our faith has been pretty simple stuff. We’ve told stories from history about people who had to do that, but Paul is coaching somebody up, and he said, «You’re gonna have to endure hardship». And the image he pulls into it is like a soldier.
Folks, a soldier puts their life at risk. I haven’t served in the military, but I’m pretty certain I understand some of the fundamentals. That you have to forfeit your will. You put yourself under the authority of someone else. «Endure hardship,» he said. Then he said, «You have to compete according to the rules». You can’t just do it the way you want. It’s not designer faith. In fact, I don’t know how you follow the Lord. I don’t know how you seek the Lord if you’ve never read your Bible. Little promises from the promise box and little sermonettes will not be enough information for you to understand how to please the Lord. And then finally, he uses the imagery of a farmer, a hardworking farmer. Hard work has fallen out of fashion.
Now we wanna work smart. Which usually means we don’t want to. My observation of those who work smart is that they don’t work as much and it’s not as hard. I’m working smart. When I really need help, you know what I want? Somebody that’ll work hard. Now, I’m not opposed to them working smart. Working stupid, there’s another word for that. But the goal isn’t to avoid the work. What intrigues me is his analysis of the outcome. He said, «The hardworking farmers should be the first to receive a share of the crops». Well heck, if it’s my field and I did the work, I want all the crop. But that doesn’t seem to be the instruction. Again, it’s a passage that’s a little prickly. It’s a little uncomfortable.
So, I’m gonna ask you today, I’m gonna put something before you as we walk through these few minutes together. I’m gonna ask you to consider an assignment for your life in this year that would help to storm proof the foundations of your life. But spoiler alert, it’s not easy. We’ve done all the easy, folks. The best things in life are on the other side of difficult, and I’m purposefully asking you to pick up some things that will be less comfortable and convenient perhaps than in the past. Oh good. But there’s some gifts that make it possible.
The first is a gift of power. God’s not left us to our own strength or our own ability. In fact, the assignment we’ve been given requires a power more than ourselves. We’re not going to outthink evil or outwork evil or out organize evil. Evil is more powerful than we are, and in order to overcome evil, we will need a greater power than ourselves. You don’t have to be particularly aware culturally to understand this. There are people that have been held in tunnels below Gaza for more than a year. It’s evil. There’s no justification. Those that we have been able to talk to suffered horrifically. It’s evil. And you’re not gonna out negotiate evil.
There’s a current deal on the table. It’s inadequate. It’s incomplete. And if there isn’t an expression of power, real power, believed it could be delivered, those people will never see the light of day again. We could go on and on with examples. Understand this, evil opposes the purposes of God in your life, and if you and I are gonna be victorious, we’re gonna need power. Good news, it’s been made available to us. Acts chapter 1, this is a resurrected Jesus. A resurrected Jesus. I’m thinking that the relationship between he and his disciples is different. They followed him, they watched him be betrayed, die on a cross. They saw him buried, and now they’ve spent 40 days with a resurrected Jesus.
Do you think they were better learners? «On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command,» you ought to circle that little word. Not a hint, a command, «'Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised. You’ve heard me speak about it. John baptized with water, but in a few days you’ll be baptized with the Holy Spirit.'» They spent three years being coached by Jesus, pretty effective. They’ve had all the experiences, all the miracles, they’ve been anointed, they’ve been sent out, they’ve come back, they have their own personal stories. But now Jesus says to them, all of that, he met with them on resurrection evening and breathed on them and said, «Receive the Holy Spirit».
Sounds a lot like conversion to me. And now he says, «Don’t even think of beginning your assignment until you receive power. You need a power beyond yourself. You need an authority beyond yourself». So do we. In that same chapter, the last words before he ascended back to heaven, «You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth». Folks, if we’re gonna be effective witnesses for the Lord, if we’re gonna see the kingdom of God come into this generation, it will be because we cooperate with the person of the Holy Spirit.
See, to be honest, it seems to me we have no perceived need for power. We don’t really feel that urgency. We read those passages and we start on a theological debate. «Well, I don’t know how I feel about that,» or, «I’m not sure what I think about Spirit baptism» or that, «You know the traditions I come from,» or all sorts of stuff. We have no perceived need for power because we haven’t accepted the assignments beyond our strength and ability. We serve the Lord in our comfort zone with our available time, with things that we feel good doing, places where we feel like we bring some experience or some competence or some natural skills.
So, we’ll raise our hand and we’ll participate in those places, but we’re very reluctant to engage in assignments that are beyond us. I mean, some of that’s human nature, but then we forget that we are serving the Lord and King, that we’re like soldiers on assignment, enduring hardship. Like, «I don’t wanna do that». I don’t believe we can fulfill what we’ve been called to do without the help of the Holy Spirit. And no matter how you know him, you can know him more fully. You can cooperate with him more completely. Don’t begin any conversation regarding the Holy Spirit by saying what you won’t do or you forfeit your future. We’ve been assigned, we’ve got to pray for others. I’m amazed we say, «Well, you know, pastor, I just don’t do that».
What do you mean you don’t do that? Why don’t you do that? «Because, you know, I’m rebellious and stubborn. I don’t like cooperating with God». I love you. You have to pray for others. You have to pray for people who are sick. You have to pray for people who are frightened. We have to pray for people who are demonized. All that’s a part of our world, and if we don’t give expression to the power of God, exactly where do we think it’s going to come from? We’re the church. We have to take our stand against wickedness. That’s biblical.
I’m amazed… I meet Christians all the time, they go, «Well, I don’t wanna do that. I don’t wanna tell my friends not to be ungodly. I don’t wanna focus on the difference. I don’t wanna use my voice. I just wanna go along and get along are the things I wanna do». That could be disruptive. It could be. We have to follow where Jesus leads. That’s not always fun. How much time do I spend trying to get Jesus to follow me? Over here. For real. Do you ever quote God’s scriptures so he’ll know which way to follow you? Oh, come on. That verse spoke to me, and now I wanted to speak to God, this way. We need a power so the purposes of God can emerge through our lives.
Then we’ve been given the gift of peace. Jesus said this, «My peace I give you. I don’t give to you as the world gives. Don’t let your hearts be troubled and don’t be afraid». Jesus left us with his peace. Wow. Awesome. Until you stop and reflect for a minute and you realize that he was betrayed, beaten, tortured to death, falsely accused. «My peace I leave with you». That’s a bargain. So, it’s certainly not about an absence of conflict. Jesus left his peace with some instructions. He said, «Don’t let your hearts be troubled, don’t be afraid, don’t be afraid, don’t worry».
See, we’re talking about the battle in our mind. Jesus’s peace will enable us to do things that would have been impossible without his peace. It brings a change to how we think. Don’t be troubled, don’t be afraid. Well, I’m troubled and afraid. I don’t have enough of that peace. I’ve got to spend some more time thinking about Jesus. I gotta get closer to him. I gotta love him more than I love the things that I feel are threatened because that’s what’s frightening me. I gave you some examples in your notes. I won’t go through them all, but in Acts chapter 2, it’s the day of Pentecost. This is Peter, the one that denied Jesus three times, got ratted out. Jesus met with him after the resurrection and to personally restore him.
Well, after all of that drama on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit’s poured out, Peter stands up in the streets of Jerusalem where they asked for Jesus to be crucified, and this is his commentary, «Let all Israel be assured of this: God made this Jesus, whom you crucified, Lord and Messiah». In case you’re not tracking, that is very provocative language. Standing in the streets of the city where they had reverberated with, «Crucify him,» he said, «You crucified the Messiah. You did it». Those are not bridge building words. Those aren’t the seeds of harmony. He’s not trying to establish unity. Somehow he overcame his fear. Anxiety is not choking him anymore. He had a change of mind. We can have a change of mind, church. I know how we’ve been. We can have a change of mind. Then we’ve been given a gift of discipline. I know it’s a gift.
Look at Hebrews 12, «The Lord disciplines those he loves, he punishes everyone he accepts as a son». If the Lord hasn’t disciplined you, you’re illegitimate. Discipline’s hard work. It takes effort. I don’t discipline people I don’t care about, right? You just think, «Well, they’re stupid. Not my problem». Pray for their parents. Somebody brought them into the world. Lord help them. Even in Christian arenas, you know, you meet somebody and they’re from some different tradition or whatever they go, «Oh, not my problem».
I serve a congregation. If the Lord loves you, he disciplines you. We have to accept the discipline. You can’t have the love of God and the blessing of God and the goodness of God and the abundance of God and the health of God if you reject the discipline of God. It’s a gift. He wants us to be better. I was fortunate. I had parents that cared enough about my brothers and I that they believed in some discipline. I’m not sure I always agreed with their timing or their approach. If you’re the one receiving the discipline, it’s seldom pleasant. But there were these times where they would say to me, you know, «This is for your good. It’s gonna help you grow up».
I never said it because I was afraid of the discipline, but I always thought the same thing, «No, I don’t want to grow up. I’m good being childish. It’s all right if you do my laundry and cook my food. Give me cash. I don’t wanna grow up. I don’t want a job. I don’t want responsibility. I’m just good being a Jackson, well cared for». But they were determined that my brothers and I would like, grow up. They may have surrendered at this point, but I know it was a desire they had along the way. You know, God is determined that you and I will grow up, accept responsibility, mature. Not just demand the privileges, but understand the responsibility of being a child of the king. It’s a gift. It’s an expression of his love.
I want to pray with you before we go. God is moving in the earth in some very, very unique ways. Folks, the most powerful forces amongst us are not Russian armies or a pandemic or international threats. It’s the spiritual activity around us, and our God is moving. Let’s pray:
Father, I thank you for your Spirit within us and that you are moving in the earth in this very unique time. Give us listening ears and a receptive heart that we might choose you and say yes to you with confidence and boldness in Jesus’s name, amen.