Allen Jackson - Walk Out of the Darkness - Part 1
We’ve been walking through a series under the general theme of Dynamic Faith that faith is not static. It isn’t stagnant. It’s not something that’s experienced. For faith to be real, it has to be lived out. So it’s a vibrant, dynamic, transformational force in our lives. It’s not defined by experiences of the past. Faith is understood by the movement of the present. And we’ve been trying to understand some of those implications for ourselves. In this session, I want to talk with you about the walk out of darkness. Because that’s not just a singular event when you arrive at a position of decision for Jesus and you accept him as Lord.
That walk out of darkness is a set of decisions that we will make throughout our spiritual journey. It’s as necessary for me today as it was when I was a beginner because darkness is still present in the earth. There’s a conflict in the earth. And we are led through shadowed valleys from time to time by the Spirit of God, and we need to know how to navigate those places when the darkness is apparent. There are even times and seasons when the darkness is more intense. There’s some fundamentals, we’ve been looking at some of these in previous sessions, I won’t belabor them. We’ve talked about fasting, abstaining from food for spiritual purposes. It’s a spiritual discipline throughout Scripture.
I believe it’s a very significant component to our spiritual formation today. A prayer watch, it’s when you miss sleep to seek the Lord and pray. Not because you ate too much pizza, and you can’t sleep or because your team lost and your bracket was ruined. I know none of you would wager on a bracket, so I know there’s no concern around that, but it’s just the emotional disappointment. But you take time intentionally to seek the Lord and pray. I wanna add a couple more there. They’re equally apparent. None of these should be new or a surprise. Obedience, there’s just no replacement for obedience to God. You can’t be generous enough to overcome your disobedience. You can’t be kind enough for… obedience is irreplaceable. Walk in the light of the truth that you know.
In fact, I really don’t think there’s any significant opportunity for advancement in the kingdom of God until you’re willing to walk in the truth that you know. And so if you’re not in the habit of practicing obedience, begin to make it a determined part of your daily life. See, we can’t be disobedient and compensate with all those other things, kindness or attention to family. I think the church has really created some mixed messaging in recent decades. In 1 Samuel chapter 15, Samuel the prophet, the last of the judges, is speaking to the man that he anointed to be king, and Saul has wandered. God chose Saul, selected him to be king, so he had a tremendous amount of momentum. He had the blessing of God, the anointing of significant figures, but he didn’t choose obedience.
And Samuel said to him: «Has the Lord as much delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices in obeying the voice of the Lord. Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice. And to heed than the fat of rams». In this context, sacrifice isn’t the forfeiture of something; it was a literal animal sacrifice. And Samuel is saying that obedience is better than a public expression of religious compliance. It’s much more important the condition of your heart in relation to God and his directives to your life than those public expressions of being compliant. He said: «Rebellion is just the sin of divination. And insubordination is as iniquity and idolatry. You’ve rejected the Word of the Lord, and he’s rejected you from being king».
That is harsh. Saul is still functioning as a king. He’s offering sacrifices, all the displays of his faith. His position seems to be secure. There’s no pretenders to the throne at this point. But the message from God is, «You’re insubordinate. You are willfully disobedient. And I’m gonna take the authority away from your life. I don’t want to be there. So I commend you to obedience, not my opinion about it, yours. Walk in the truth that you know». Isaiah 1:19 said: «If you’re willing and obedient, you’ll eat the best from the land».
Just a slight caution, you can be obedient, but be very grumpy about it. I mean, I know none of you could, but you probably have known someone that had that tendency. And we’re invited in Scripture to be both willing and obedient. Sometimes that takes some season for me to get that work done. But willing and obedience brings the blessings of God. And then the fourth piece I would give you just as a fundamental, again, this isn’t new, it’s Scripture, a systematic consistent engagement with the Word of God. I don’t believe you can sustain your spiritual momentum if you’re not taking time routinely in the Word of God. If you’ve been around the church at all in recent years, we’ve talked about this ad nauseam. But to be completely honest, I’ve arrived at the point, I’m a little embarrassed that I’ve only encouraged you to spend ten minutes a day in the Bible.
In our Bible reading plan, you can… well, about ten minutes a day. It depends on how you read, but 10 to 15 minutes a day, we can get through the entire Bible in a calendar year. And that’s a notable accomplishment. But ten minutes is a pretty minimal investment. I’m pretty confident that the things you like to do, you don’t have any problems spending ten minutes with. If you like to hunt, you’re up before sunrise, happily. If you like football, you’re probably gonna watch more than one game. And you can’t miss those last three minutes, even though they’re gonna take an hour and a half. If you enjoy horses, all day is not sufficient to satisfy your desire to be with them. If you enjoy making money, you think about it most of the time.
If your grandchildren are your focus, there’s no effort that’s too great. And yet the question that comes is, you know, I read my Bible, do I really need to do that again? And the answer is, yeah, it’d probably be good for us. Be good for me. I think it would probably be a help to you. Psalm 119 said: «Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light for my path». I’m not trying to induce shame. I want to invite you towards a set of behaviors that will secure you in the midst of turmoil. And if you haven’t noticed, there’s a lot of that in the earth. And I don’t believe it’s going to be diminished. All of this really leads us to this notion of the sovereignty of God, that God is sovereign overall. He’s the creator and the sustainer of all things.
Once you establish that, it’s a very logical step to begin to invest your life and your behavior in things that God has said are pleasing. There’s two Scriptures we’re gonna look at that are really the heart of this particular session. I believe they’re both relevant to the church in this season and even in our nation. I don’t know the outcome of what’s ahead of us. I mean, I know some ultimate outcomes, but I wouldn’t pretend to know the outcome of all that’s unraveling at this moment. I feel I know something about what would be appropriate, but I don’t pretend to know how God will respond. And it’s his response that will be the determining factor.
Micah chapter 7 and verse 18, you have it. It says: «Who is a God like you, who pardons sin and forgives the transgression of the remnant of his inheritance? You don’t stay angry forever, but you delight to show mercy». I think that’s a very important message for those of us that are people of faith to understand. It’s not some singular expression. It’s a theme in Scripture that God delights in showing mercy, Even to those who don’t deserve it, even to those who would rightfully deserve judgment, God still delights in showing mercy.
Now, his mercy and his grace are not infinite. There is ultimate accountability for our lives, for every life. The purpose of grace and mercy is not to extend the license and more opportunities. The Bible tells us that the purpose of grace and mercy is to bring us to repentance. So there’s a logic here. God delights in showing mercy because his objective is that it would bring us to a place where we would have a change of mind and a change of behavior, and we would choose to cooperate with him. And because of that, it’s an insight into his character. The message has been so prominent amongst us that we have lost, I think, sometimes the awareness of the other aspect of God’s character in Daniel chapter 5 and verse 26. There’s been a vision. And Daniel is delivering the interpretation of the vision.
You know, the Scripture invites us to this imagination that you could know God well enough to have insight and understanding to what’s happening in the culture around us. Not dependent upon media outlets or X or wherever you get your information, but that you’re aware enough, integrated enough, with the purposes of God and the Word of God that you are accustomed to being sensitive enough to the Spirit of God that you could have a God perspective on what’s happening in our world. That’s not the place of crackpots or goofballs or weird people or the fanatical fringe. That’s the invitation to the people of God. Daniel was one of those people, tremendous pressures. He lived under great injustice his entire life. He’s been physically mutilated. He’s a slave.
The whole time we know Daniel in the picture of Scripture, he’s a slave in a foreign country. His homeland has been decimated. And yet in spite of all of those things and all of those circumstances, Daniel chooses to honor God. See, don’t use the fact that evil exists in the world and that it’s touched your life as a license for ungodliness. We’ll never be able to make a case to God so convincing that he will agree with us in our wickedness. So Daniel is a man that we’re told that the archangels show up and say: «You’re highly esteemed in heaven». That gets my attention. Wouldn’t you like to be highly esteemed in heaven? Well, there’s a vision that’s given, and Daniel has an interpretation.
It’s Daniel 5:26: «This is the interpretation of the message: God has numbered your kingdom and put an end to it. You have been weighed on the scales and found deficient. Your kingdom has been divided and given over to the Medes and the Persians». The big picture evaluation of that is that God Almighty, sovereign God, judges even nations. He doesn’t just judge preachers or people, that God has an opinion about the behaviors of nations. I’m always intrigued at the people who pontificate about what God thinks about behaviors when they aren’t compliant themselves. Those words always ring a bit hollow to me. If you’re gonna listen to opinions about God, you want to pay more closely attention to those people who are doing their best to cooperate with him.
God judges peoples and nations. We have these two ideas in place that God delights to show mercy, but we don’t want to live without the awareness that, ultimately, God expresses his opinion in history, that there is accountability. Not a threat, it’s a promise. Judgment can be for you. Judgment can be for your deliverance, for your liberty, for your freedom. Don’t think of judgment as a frightening thing. If you’re purposefully doing something that you know is in opposition to God’s best for you, stop it. We’re not getting away with it. We’ve opened the door to evil, and evil will always be more destructive than we imagined it would be.
As I was preparing for the weekend, I was reminded it was five years ago just now that we were in lockdown. Remember those wonderful days? The trigger for me was we were having a meeting in the office on a Thursday, and they said: «Are we having church this weekend»? The discussion had really just started and about COVID. And I said: «Well, absolutely. They’re playing the SEC tournament in Nashville and Bridgestone. If they’re playing basketball, we’re having church». And I said it with a little bit too much swagger because the next morning some friends in the metro police department were calling and saying: «They’ve closed Bridgestone, and they’re putting the teams on buses and sending everybody home».
And the lockdowns began. I believe COVID-19 was a wake up call. And the unimagined very quickly became our reality, if you remember. I tried to describe it 'cause it felt like someone took away our car keys and told us we were grounded. We were told we couldn’t go to our favorite restaurant. Our restrictions included not eating with other people. It’s just better to eat alone. We couldn’t meet with our friends and hang out. More than that, we were told: «Don’t touch anybody, no handshakes, and for heaven’s sakes, don’t hug them».
People are just off limits. Remember those days? Our hobbies were off limits, too. You couldn’t go to March Madness that year. In fact, we’re not even gonna let you watch the tournament. Golf, that was off limits, too. No Masters tournament that spring. Baseball, spring training, opening day, the seventh inning stretch, don’t even think about it. Travel, that was not a good idea. So you can enjoy a staycation. International travel, you don’t even need to ask. They’re grounded, too. Well, school, what about school? That certainly should be important. You’re expelled, go home. We’re not sure when you’ll be allowed to return. «Well, work, at least, I can go to work».
Wrong again, your job has been evaluated, and you are non-essential, stay home. Maybe somebody will send you a check. Well, church, surely we’re allowed to attend church. Are you not paying any attention to these rules at all? No, absolutely no. Churches are especially off limits. They are uniquely dangerous. People sing in those places. Churches are different. They’re not like liquor stores or abortion clinics or marijuana markets. Those are essential. Home Depot and Lowe’s and Costco, those are places that impact our state of mind and they fuel our creativity. They’re okay, but definitely not church. And here was the startling part. We all complied. We cooperated with our instructions. We accepted the sentence, and we went into time out.
Well, we’re five years later. And I know with great enthusiasm, we want to assert that lessons have been learned, behaviors have been modified, we’re more awake now. And as I sat at my desk and grappled with that and tried to understand the evaluation, if you’ll allow me, I think we’re just as deeply mired in immorality. We don’t protect our babies. We don’t educate our children with godly values. We spend more than we earn. We are insatiable in our appetite for more. We stay silent far too frequently while evil is called good and good is declared evil. We’re very reluctant to stand for truth. We stay quiet, currently while cities burn. Well, it’s just cars and car lots, mostly peaceful protests.
Well, our problem is not political. Please don’t be confused. Our problem is in our hearts. Our freedom is evaporating. Only God can restore what’s been lost. If we’ll seek him, perhaps he will look upon us with mercy. We just read that. But be certain of this, he would be beyond justified in delivering judgment. Yet, he’s a God who delights in showing mercy, even to the wicked. There’s hope for us. We learned that we can be controlled with fear of a virus. But I believe the only reason that was possible is because long ago, we began cowering in fear, fear of being chastised by those more politically correct, fear of those who reject God and will mock you if you stand up, fear of being penalized at work or socially or economically or in some other way.
If you dare to assert the significance of Jesus of Nazareth, here’s what we should all know. Hopefully we had enough exposure that we won’t lose this lesson. Fear is a tyrant. And if we submit, there’s no end to the sacrifices that fear will demand. Begin to treat fear like the interloper it is. Speak to fear from a place of authority, not your authority, but kingdom authority. Tell it to go in Jesus’s name. Treat fear like an intruder uninvited, unwelcome, unhelpful, and dismiss it. Fear is stalking our streets again. Well, the labeling has changed a little bit, but it’s still here. We’re watching week after week these days this DOGE experiment. Even if you don’t wanna watch it, it’s hard to miss, an attempt to cut waste and fraud and expose the looting of America. It’s uncomfortable, it’s awkward. Many would just prefer to look away. I would submit to you, it’s necessary, if we are to survive. It’s being criticized and winked at by the legacy media and professional political class.
I would encourage you not to be deceived again. Far too many have had their snouts in the trough gaining wealth on the back of hardworking people whom they despise. We have to change. There’s fear in a whole another category. We don’t want to be wrong. We don’t want to be calloused. We don’t wanna… there’s all sorts of fear wrapped in this, and the church has been reluctant to help. I would submit to you that citizenship is a privilege and not a right. And that the church, of all places, cannot afford to lose the distinction between legal and illegal. Don’t be shamed into giving away your children’s future to those who engage in illegal choices and then demand benefits. It’s not kindness. Protecting our efforts and our assets is the discussion this week ad nauseam. Reciprocal tariffs for the nations of the world, which have taken advantage of the American people. It’s not difficult to understand, the numbers are clear. The math is unsettling.
In fact, it’s just easier not to think about it. I believe what’s being initiated is an expression of support for the American people. It’s uncomfortable in the moment, just as many times truth is, and we bump into it. What I can tell you is that the manipulative attitudes and tools which made the fear of COVID so damaging are still operating in our midst. Let’s not be so unprepared and gullible twice. Let’s decide to be obedient to the truth of God, to be courageous enough to speak the truth that we know, to not be manipulated by fear. So what’s the challenge and how do we navigate it? Well, the diagnosis isn’t particularly complex to me. And this isn’t about the ungodly. It’s not about the people outside the church. It’s not about the professional class of political leaders. It’s about the people of faith.
The diagnosis, it seems to me, is we have laid aside the knowledge of God. There was enough opportunity for prosperity and enjoyment and pleasure that we could rear our children and point them towards pathways that we thought would bring fulfillment and contentment and joy and we could celebrate the victories with them without necessarily trying to establish in them a foundation of obedience to fundamental biblical values. Hosea chapter 4 and verse 1 says: «Listen to the word of the LORD, O sons of Israel».
This isn’t for the pagan nation. It’s not for the Gentile. This is for the covenant people of God: «Listen to the word of the LORD. For the LORD has a case against the inhabitants of the land. There is no faithfulness or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. There is swearing and deception and murder and stealing and adultery. They employ violence, so that bloodshed follows bloodshed». Gee, that sounds pretty accurate to me. I mean, the location’s a little different, but it’s a pretty accurate description of our land. The case being made against us is the knowledge of God has been removed. It’s been inconvenient. We’re more interested in civic behaviors that are applauded. We don’t wanna be offensive.
Well, the resolution, I believe, is equally simple. It’s equally straightforward. We have to desire the knowledge of God, and you think: «Well, duh». But I think we tend to think, well, it’s not about me. It’s about somebody else. I mean, we’re in church on a Sunday, and it stormed all night. We’re the best. I mean, we stayed home, there was a lot of water, but we’re live streaming. Yes, you are. Look at 1 Corinthians 15, verse 34: «Awake». And that word that’s translated there was the secular Greek word that was used for somebody who was recovering from being drunk. So come out of your inebriated condition. There’s been an influence in your life. There’s been something that has addled your ability to comprehend and understand: «Awake to righteousness, and do not sin; for some, do not have the knowledge of God. I speak this to your shame».
This is Paul writing to a church. He’s not writing to the ungodly to the secular culture. He’s not writing to the Roman leaders who practice paganism. He’s writing to a church: «Awake to righteousness». Some of you don’t have the knowledge of God. 2 Corinthians, same church, but another letter: «The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God». Wow, pretentious ideas that oppose God’s knowledge. Our culture is filled with them. And the church struggles with this. We do. We’re not sure if we should be kind. Should we just overlook sin? We’ve been very good at that. For decades now, I would say, we have majored in overlooking ungodliness.
You know, I really dislike the idea of a religious lecture. I believe the point of ministry or opening the Word of God is to be transformed by it. So before we go, I want to give you two invitations. One’s a prayer I’m gonna pray with you, but the other is our offer this month. The book is «The Lord Is My Shepherd» by my friend Rob Morgan. It’s an important Word in this season to understand God’s direction, his abiding presence, his protection. We all need that. It’ll be a blessing in your life and something I think you wanna share with some friends. But I wanna pray with you before we go that we’ll know we’re not alone.
Heavenly Father, I thank you for the resources you give us, for the voices that you provide in our lives, that in a world of turmoil and confusion and, honestly, great fear, that your calm, assuring voice guides us, and I thank you for it today. Thank you for your faithfulness. In Jesus’s name, amen.