Skip to content The Fear That Fuels Your Future - Really Big God, Part 1 Nov 19 · 51 min ...more
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Empowering multimedia ministry for bold Christian living: Weekend Messages, Deep End Podcast, Deep Dive Bible Study. Tim Hatch, Lead Pastor, Waters Church, 26 years of pastoral ministry, book author.
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0:00 I wanna talk to you about really big God, and I wanna speak on the fear that fuels your future. Take out your Bibles if you've got a Bible. Got a paper Bible? Anybody in the house? All locations. Hold them up.0:11 Yes. Okay. You're gonna wanna join this crowd very soon. I've got some news to share with you that's gonna hopefully motivate you to get ahold of a paper bible. I've been I've been beating this drum for a long time, and0:23 some of you are holding out. But you're not going to hold out, I don't think, after today. I really don't think so. But anyway, we're gonna get into a message series called really big God. Luke chapter 12. If I0:35 didn't say it already, it's on your notes as well. Luke chapter 12. Really big God. Say those 3 words on a count of 3. 1, 2, 3. Really big God. We serve a really big God. This series is intended0:47 to motivate you to be living large because you know that the 1 who is in you is greater than the 1 who is in the world. And we've got a0:58 really big plan as a church, starting new locations. We wanna start churches all across America. This is in my heart. I believe that the Lord has put this1:10 into my spirit, into many of your spirits, starting churches. This country will go to hell if we don't preach the gospel. And so we've gotta go all over the country, not just in1:22 the eastern East Coast. We wanna go all over. And in 3 weeks let me hear you say 3 weeks. 3 weeks. We got a really big offering coming up, and it's the Really Big Things Offering Weekend.1:34 Now can you believe we have 27 weeks of savings? I hope you've been doing this. I asked you 27 weeks ago. I said, look. We're gonna start these churches. We're gonna start a school here in North1:46 Attleboro, and we're gonna start a preschool in Apollo Beach in September, and we're going to hopefully start schools wherever we start churches. That's my big that's my big, big, big plan.1:57 Okay? So this is just we did big things during COVID. This is really big things coming in 20 27, extremely big things. Okay. Yes. And then, you know, 202:09 30, supercalifragilisticex things. Right? But, anyway, a church and a school, I think we gotta do this everywhere we go. So we're gonna start it here. And k to fifth grade is in the plans. We2:21 got a group of people, a team getting ready to put that together. We're gathering all of our materials and all of our ideas and putting a constitution and bylaws together and making sure that that school is protected by2:33 the church, that if the school ever starts teaching something that isn't biblical, it shuts down. Yeah. It will not be allowed to operate2:45 if it doesn't teach biblical education. That's what we're gonna put into the constitution and bylaws. It's gonna be held accountable by the elders, not just me, the elders of our church. And that's how2:57 we're going to, I believe, play our part in rescuing the next generation from insanity and indoctrination. So I hope you've been saving3:09 for 27 weeks. And even if you haven't and you're like, oh, I kept meaning to do that. That's alright. Just start saving now or give by faith. The plan was to save so that when you give on that weekend, it's no big deal.3:20 I've already set this money aside. Here it is. Amen. Alright. But prepare your hearts for the next 3 weeks and through this series to be a part of that offering because it does take money. I wish I3:32 wish, like some of you think, I wish that angels pulled up in a limousine, you know, during the week and said, hey, pastor Tim. Good to see you. You're doing a good job. Here's 3000000 dollars. I3:43 wish that happened. You know? But this is how God has always worked. He's always worked through the people that he has chosen. And so 3 weeks from now, you have a chance to be part of this. So if3:55 you, pray and ask God and speak to your wife or spouse about it too, that would be very healthy. And then be ready to give and give joyfully to God. Let's talk about the fear4:07 that fuels your future. We're gonna take communion at the end of the service. I'm very excited about that. But I think about fear because fear is such a a crippling emotion. It's such a4:19 common emotion. It was the first thing that Adam and the wife she wasn't called Eve yet. She was called Eve after the fall, and Adam named her.4:31 That was also a sign of the fall because Adam naming her is him taking dominion over her because you have authority over the things that you name. But anyway, I digress. That the first4:43 feeling that Adam and the woman felt after they sinned, anybody want to guess what it was? Fear. It was fear. They heard the sound of the Lord in the garden,4:55 and Adam said, I was afraid, and I hid myself. And ever since that day, mankind has been wrestling with what to do5:07 with fear. Now a lot of our wars are because of fear. Countries feel like they're being encroached upon, so they lash out and fight others. Or people fear5:19 what others will do to them, so they strike first. They kinda live, you know, the Cobra Kai lifestyle. Strike first. Strike hard. No mercy. That's a lot of people in our culture. I'm a big fan of that show, by way.5:30 Anyway, fear is a big time motivator of our life. Seth Godin, great author. I think it's in your notes there. Or it's not in your notes. No. It's on the screen now. Your life, he said, is defined by what you fear.5:43 Your life is defined by what you fear. A great well, you know, it could be argued that, a great many of the problems of our culture right now is because of fear of the other. We're a very5:54 divided country, left and right, conservative, liberal, very, you know, suspicious of each other, and we're all 4 days away from Thanksgiving where some of you are already fearing6:06 going to the dinner with them. Yeah. And you're like, I just hope that they don't bring up the Hamas Israel conflict. Please, Lord, let's just enjoy some turkey and gravy. You know? Fear can6:18 cripple you, and it can define you. 1 of our presidents, the only president we elected 4 times, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, is known for 1 great 1 great quote, and it is what is that what is that6:30 quote? We only the only thing we have to fear is but nobody reads the rest of the quote because the rest of the quote is really what he's getting at. He said this, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have6:39 to fear is fear itself. And here's the rest of the quote. Nameless, unreasoning, unjustified terror, which paralyzes needed efforts to convert retreat into6:50 advance. What is he saying? He's saying fear has the capacity to hold you back in life. Too many churches are afraid of the culture, and they're not advancing to win back the7:02 culture. Too many too many Christians, too many churches are afraid of what people will think of them. And so they don't say anything, and they don't step up and speak out for God, for the Lord, for biblical wisdom, and7:13 they just retreat into their cocoon of safe Christianity. And God is begging. He is imploring. He is calling on the church. Look, a godless culture needs a god7:25 driven church who believe that the gospel will change lives, and Jesus is still alive, and the holy spirit is still active. And I don't want us as a church to ever fall back7:37 in retreat. I don't ever want us to shrink back because the book of Hebrews says that we are not those who shrink back, but we are those who press forward and win the victory in Jesus' name. We are7:49 more than conquerors through Jesus Christ who loved us. He leads us, the Bible says, everywhere in victorious triumph in Christ Jesus. What I'm trying to tell you8:01 guys is, you're not losers. You're winners. Act like it. Live like it. Parent like it. Be married like it. You're a winner in Jesus' name. Write this down so we can build a case for what I'm8:13 about to tell you. Worldly fear. Worldly fear. Not just fear, but worldly fear is the opposing force of your future. It'll hold you back. It'll stifle what what what FDR said. Necessary efforts.8:25 What's the necessary effort in your life that you have been avoiding? What conversation do you need to have? What8:37 job do you need to leave? What what person and this might sound funny, but it's actually very biblical. What what person do you need to ask out on a date?8:49 Young men of Waters Church. Where are you? There's a lot of pretty girls at Waters Church. Ask 1 of them out. Stay9:01 faithful, get married, and help us out breed the pagans. Let's let's play the long game. How about you9:12 married people, and you don't have kids yet, and you're retreating? I don't know if we can afford it. I don't know. Climate change is gonna ruin everything. Stop acting like9:24 a pagan and start acting like a son and daughter of the most high God. He will prosper you and bless you. Stop it. You've been dating long enough.9:36 Hey, married people without kids, you're still single in my book. That doesn't mean you can get divorced. Have babies. Come on. Let's play the long game in9:47 this culture war. It's not a cult it's not a war. It's a campaign of good versus evil. The kingdom of God versus the kingdom of Satan. We gotta play the long game, have babies. Stop being afraid is what I'm saying.9:59 It'll stifle you. Jesus' ministry in Luke 12 is at the apex is at the apex. Look at what it says in verse 1. It says, in the meantime, when so many thousands of people had gathered together10:11 that they were trampling on 1 another. This is Jesus' first mosh pit. The word so many thousands is in the Greek.10:23 We get the word myriad from it. Tens of thousands times tens of thousands. So many people, it was uncountable. That's how popular Jesus had become. He is ministering around 33 AD. That that that that, matters in just10:35 a moment. And so many people wanted to be around Jesus. I I think about it. Why? Because he was healing the sick. He was raising the dead. He was casting out demons. I I guarantee you that if Jesus was walking on the10:46 earth today doing the same things that he was doing 3 2000 years ago, I guarantee you that the most ardent skeptic in your workplace would love to find him and come and have him do something for them.10:58 Okay? But Jesus came not to just perform miracles. He came to die for our sins. And he came to call people back to God, repentance, to turn away from sin and Satan and turn toward God.11:10 And that's the that's the that's the conversation that people don't wanna have with Jesus. They want the goodies, but they don't want the godliness. They they they want the blessings, but they don't want the beatitudes.11:23 Right? Or they they they they want all the things that God can give them, but they don't want the giver. And we gotta get back to what Jesus told us to be about. It's not just living the good life. It's11:35 having God in your life. And so many people wanted to be around him. And then, at the time of Jesus' ministry, when his it's kind of a a unique parallel event here. Jesus11:47 has tens of thousands of tens of thousands of people following him. And at the time of his ministry, there was 1 group of people, 1 group of people that held sway over the population with11:58 iron fisted grip, and they were the Pharisees. We hear a lot about these people in the gospels. Do know why? Because they were a big population. They were the dominant force in12:10 Judaism in that day, dominant culture. And they were very strict. They were very religious. They had funny clothing and funny hats. They would wear things, little12:21 boxes on their forehead. They still not Pharisees aren't around anymore, but they they still do this in Israel. Men will wear these black boxes on their foreheads and big black boxes on their forearms because the Torah12:32 says that you shall write them on your arms and write them in between your eyes, the laws of God. And so they would write them, scribble them out, roll up the scroll, and stick it in a little box. And they would and they12:42 would have bigger boxes for the guys with more scripture. So you have little, like, you know, spiritual unicorns, religious unicorns walking around in Jesus' day, like the most insane kind of culture. Because12:53 they were at at 1 point, they were as dominant as you could be in the time in which they lived. The Pharisees started around 150 BC, and they died out around13:05 135 AD. And so they reached their zenith listen to this at the same point that Jesus did. So you had kind of like this clash of13:17 civilizations, clash of ideologies, clash of kingdoms. This religious in crowd dominant culture, which was influencing the people or the people who followed this13:28 itinerant rabbi from Nazareth who was performing incredible miracles and speaking things that nobody had ever heard before named Jesus. And so Jesus says to the13:40 people, as tens of thousands times tens of thousands were following, because Jesus knew that not everybody in the crowd was really converted. Not everybody in13:51 church is really a Christian. So Jesus says to his disciples,14:03 beware of the leaven. Leaven is a symbol of sin in the Old Testament. It's yeast. And yeast goes throughout the whole lump of dough, it spreads, and it infects everything. That's what14:14 sin does. He says, beware of the yeast or the leaven of the Pharisees. And what is it? He says it's hypocrisy. Here's what he's saying. It looks 1 way, but it's really another.14:27 Be careful of that kind of religious lifestyle. And it's kinda funny. If anybody is here and you say, I am like the least religious person I know. In fact, I don't even know why I14:39 came here to this church. I don't even go to church. I don't understand church, and I don't belong here. Woah. Woah. Woah. Let me just give you little pro tip on studying the life of Jesus. The people who asked for his14:49 crucifixion were the most religious people. And the people who loved him the most and held on to him the closest were the least religious people. So15:01 if you are here at church for the first time in a long time or the first time ever and you have nothing to do with Christianity, welcome. Jesus came for you. You do belong.15:14 Because there's 1 group of people that really ripped Jesus up, and it was the people who claimed to know God and acted like the devil. It says watch15:26 out for these people. Why do we gotta watch out? Because they were the dominant. They had reached their zeniths, the dominant culture in the day. And they were trying to control people. In fact, the Bible says that the15:36 Pharisees stirred up the crowds to call for Jesus' crucifixion. I wonder who was in the crowd and said, man, he doesn't deserve to be crucified. He doesn't deserve it. But the Pharisees were like, no. No. No. Say it. Say15:47 crucify him. And they went against their own convictions and said, alright. Yeah. Crucify him. I just think about that. Here's the point that I wanna make, and I want you to write it down. In every stage of my life,15:58 there will be a dominant culture trying to control you. At every stage. When you're a kid playing, you know, on the playground, not that kids do that16:09 anymore. But in my day, we used to go outside and play. And the 1 that would dominate would be like the big tough kid. You know, the kid who had the the16:21 snarl. Right? The, what was his name in A Christmas Story? Ficus. Yeah. Dominant culture. When you get it to be a high schooler, the dominant culture is the party16:33 culture, the drinking, and the trying some drugs culture, or the sex culture, or, you know, in in art, in this day, the woke culture, you know. The the the serious, like, I'm jumping on16:44 every, you know, ideological ideological, you know, statement that I need make on social media culture. And then when you get to college, it's, you know, it's the cool the the smart kid culture or the, you know, the the16:55 the half wood culture or the drug culture, whatever. And then you get into the workplace, and it's the make money culture or or it's the make an impact culture or, you know, all it's always a dominant culture. You can17:05 live into a you can move into a neighborhood and not even realize on the outside, once you're on the inside of the neighborhood, there's a dominant culture in the neighborhood. You can do that. Yeah? And when I worked in17:13 1 neighborhood, I'll never forget that my first visit with my neighbor, the first neighbor I ever met, she came up to me. She said, just wanna let you know that we all use Scotts fertilizer on our lawn. Good for17:25 you. Guess what I did? I used Scott's fertilizer on my lawn every single week. You know, I don't I so they controlled me. You know, they they they led me, and here's if you're not careful, if you don't identify that17:37 dominant culture, you'll be susceptible to its influence. And the reason why you're susceptible to its influence is because the tool of their trade is fear. Don't you17:48 want to belong? Don't you want to be a part? Don't you want to fit in? This is what Jesus was faced with. And if you got your Bibles open, Luke 12 2, he says, nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden18:00 that will be not known. This is not on screen. So I got to bring your Bible. He says, in other words, what what you don't see in the Pharisees, you will eventually. What you think looks 1 way18:12 on the outside is actually a different reality on the inside. And then he says this. He says, whatever you have said in the dark will be heard in light. These are hard words. And he says, whatever you have whispered in18:22 private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. In other words, nothing that is hidden will stay that way. God is gonna reveal what's in men's hearts, either at the last day on the judgment18:34 or before then. And a lot of times, that's what happens when we see a pastor who preaches 1 thing and he does another. How many pastors, popular pastors, to continue to do the same stuff before18:46 we're like, wow. This is a problem. Or the business leader who looks like a model citizen, but he's insider trading, or he's not paying his taxes, or he's cutting corners, or he's under, you know, paying his employees,18:58 whatever. Here's what Jesus is saying about that dominant culture. And listen to me because this is this is pure gold. The the the the dominant culture that you might be you might be scared into following19:10 is not really what it seems. That beautiful woman on the cover of People magazine or Woman's Daily or whatever it is that19:22 you ladies might compare yourselves to or you men might lust after. You understand she's photoshopped? If you work hard enough on a picture of19:34 me, I could look like her. There's a chance that she's not even photoshopped. She's AI generated now. She's not even real. She doesn't even19:45 exist. That nice car that you see the guy down the street driving? And you're like, oh, man. Must be nice. Yeah. But you don't see the payment slip that comes in the19:57 mail every single month. And he has to tell his kids, sorry. No money for clothes this month. Daddy's got to pay for his Corvette. What what you don't realize20:09 is the dominant culture is fake. Fake. And this is what Jesus hated. Jesus hated fake. And our culture is filled with fake people. I I'm a20:21 conservative, and I have a liberal friend. And I love this guy, and he's a Christian. And we go back and forth all the time about liberal conservative. And I'm always arguing, and I'm always telling him everything is20:28 wrong with Joe Biden. And he's telling me everything is wrong with the other guy. And it is love. I love that. It helps me stay sharp, helps him stay sharp. I will never forget all the time that I said, time to put out20:37 my recycling bin. And he goes, oh, I don't even do that. I'm like, what? You, this is your thing. You people are the20:49 save the planet people. My people are like, let it go to hell. Jesus is gonna burn it anyway. And I'm the 1 recycling, and he's the 1 like, yeah, I just say, you know, save the earth. My21:01 word. You ever meet these? People are fake. What you see, what you might be influenced in this culture21:13 is not what it appears. And so you gotta develop a fear that will fuel your future and not stop it because that 121:25 will will stop you. Bishop Fulton Sheen, he said it. He said, if you marry the spirit of this age, you'll be divorced in the 1 to come. Be careful21:37 about what you think is really valuable, what matters. And so I got 4 questions for every person to ask themselves today. Self inspection to21:49 fuel your future. Number 1, write this down. Do I hear his voice? Do I hear his voice? It's not that God isn't speaking. It's are22:00 you listening? He wants to say something to you in the midst of your fears. In fact, the favorite thing that God says to people throughout the Bible 365 times in the Bible,22:12 it says, do not fear. The first thing that Mary heard from the angel Gabriel was fear not. This is kind of God's favorite topic. Don't worry. Don't fear. I'm going to do22:24 something, and I got it, and I got you, and it's all going to work out. Just trust me. As you start to think about what you're gonna give for really big things, don't fear. Don't fall into, well, if I22:36 give this, I'll lose. No. No. No. You're not losing anything. You can't lose when you give to the kingdom of God. You invest, and God watches you, and then he pours back into you. So verse 4, he says, I tell you, my22:47 friends circle friends. I tell you, my friends. What's the 3 words after that? Do not Do not fear those who can kill the body. But after that22:59 and how many know there's an after that? Can we get back to old school Christian faith? There's an after that. This life is not the end. Your death is not the end. There is something after this.23:12 And he says, and you wanna you wanna stop worrying about the people who have no authority over the after this. Wanna stop letting them control you. Wanna stop letting23:24 them give you all kinds of anxiety, all kinds of depression, all kinds of covetousness, or jealousy, or envy. Like, stop letting those people be the dominant force in your life. And I love this voice words23:35 words because he says they can do nothing after that. And he's talking to his friends. Jesus's friends are those who hear his voice. John chapter 15, he says,23:47 greater love has no 1 than this that someone laid down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. In other words, you've heard me, and you do what I say. And then he23:59 says, no longer do I call you servants, for servants don't know what the master is doing, but I have called you, what? Friends. For all that I have heard from my father, have made known to you. Friends of Jesus listen24:11 to Jesus, and they listen to Jesus more than this world. If you're saved, you have a radio frequency in your24:23 soul that can tune into your father. If you're not saved, you don't have that frequency yet. If you're not a Christian, you don't have the frequency yet. That's why the Bible seems crazy to you. And some of you can24:34 remember the moment that this became clear to you. Some of you can remember. Like before Jesus saved you, you're like, I don't even know what that book is all about. And then Jesus saved you, you're like, oh, my word. It24:45 makes sense. God is speaking to me now. It's like, you know, when when you have your first girlfriend or boyfriend in in high school and and suddenly all those songs on the radio start to come alive to you. I24:59 wanna know what love is. That makes sense now. Well, when you get saved, God's frequency tunes in inside of you to this. And you wanna get25:11 a hold of this more because in this book, Jesus is speaking. Last night service, we had a lady get baptized and her testimony was so cool. I hope we play it on a Sunday for you guys. But, longtime Catholic and,25:23 you know, learned a lot of scripture from us, way more than she ever learned in the Catholic church. And she said, look, I now read the Bible all the time. And she said, I don't understand everything, but, man, I25:34 understand a few things. And that's what you gotta do. And some of gotta do this. Enhance your experience with Waters Church. Here's how. Read the Bible on your own. Then when you come to our church and I25:46 start to speak on things, God's gonna start to reveal because you've already laid the groundwork for your spirit to hear it. You see, this is how you enhance the preaching.25:57 Right? The people who are saying amen the loudest are the people who are probably reading the most. Because like, Mhmm. Yep. That resonates with me. Yep. Mhmm. I love it too. I love26:09 it. Don't you be shy. Don't you be shy. Make them jealous. Make all the non bible believers, bible readers jealous that you got it. You got the frequency. You're tuned in. It's in HD. Come on somebody.26:21 Alright. So you wanna hold on to this more because I got news for you, and I told you I was gonna motivate you to get a paper bible today. News came out,26:33 2 weeks ago. This is crazy. Legislation is on the table that will give the federal government control of the broadband access that you have to the Internet. Nobody is26:45 telling you about this. Do you know why? Because the press is no longer free. They are tied to the regime. And they're not even telling you. It's amazing. No 1 is hearing it. So the26:57 FCC will get control, listen to this, over what your Internet service provider charges you, where they install it, and how fast it will27:09 be. And what they're really doing is giving the government this is a this is a playbook. This is a play right out of the right out of the Chinese27:20 playbook. They're gonna control what you and how you get your information. Nobody's you're like, I can see there's a deer in the headlights look right now at me. This is actually something that's27:32 being argued about in congress right now. It might pass. And they're calling it the reason for it is because costs have gone too high and the government wants to help. And it's amazing because the government always fixes27:42 problems that it creates. And they call this digital equity digital equity. So giving the government more control over your airways means get yourself a paper bible before27:54 before. I don't wanna scare you. I wanna just teach you that this is our playbook. This is our game plan. Have it. Hold it.28:06 Meditate on it. Wear it out. Underline it. Circle it. Highlight it. Read it. Turn it on on the car ride into school with the kids. My son, Jake, and I, we're in the car the28:18 other day. I was doing mommy and daddy duty. And, I was driving to school. We put on Psalm 1 0 1, and we just listened to it again and again. I said, let's let's memorize this together, Jake. Need to do that with our28:30 kids. We need to do what can we get back to old school teaching our kids to memorize scripture? You can like, take out the the the Bible app and just look at the ones that's verse of the day. You28:42 just do this live right now. Verse of the day. What is it? Let's take a look see. It is Joshua 1 8. Keep this book of the law always on your lips. Meditate on it day and night so that you may be careful to do everything28:53 written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. How about you go home today and talk about that with your kids? You know, a lot of preachers are complaining, including me, about the kids being on the29:04 phones. I've got something that's gonna pinch a little bit. The problem's not the kids are on the phones. The problem's that mom and dad are on the phones. Put this thing down. Engage29:16 your children. Teach them what you believe. Tell them what we stand for as a family and where we stake our ground.29:28 Whoo. I knew that was gonna pinch a little bit. Some of you need to hear it. Psalm 82 says about the rulers of this world. It says they, the gods, the rulers of this world, the gods, the powerful29:40 people. What does it say? They have neither knowledge nor understanding. They walk about in darkness. Some of you are like, I can't understand why they're passing that bill. Because they walk around in darkness.29:53 Because they have no knowledge or understanding. All the found foundations of the earth are shaken. I said, you were gods, sons of the most high, all of you. Nevertheless, like men, you shall die, and you shall fall like30:05 any prince. Kingdoms have risen. Kingdoms have fallen. Totalitarian governments have risen. Totalitarian governments have fallen. There's 1 kingdom Right. That has stood the test of time.30:16 It's the kingdom of our lord and savior, Jesus Christ. And he shall reign forever and ever. Question number 2,30:28 do I fear God's judgment? Now this 1, I can hear some of you in the back of your head saying, oh, good. He's gonna talk about how we have to have reverence for God. No.30:42 I'm talking about fear. Fear of God is a corrective in your life. Some of you gotta get a hold of this because you've slipped. You've slipped30:53 away from the fear of the Lord. He is a God of grace and mercy and kindness and compassion and perfect judgment.31:06 Holiness adorns his house. No unclean thing, Revelation says, shall enter the city of Jerusalem, the new heavens and the new earth. It says outside31:18 that city are the vile. It's sexually immoral, the covetous, the liars, and the dogs. Bad news, dog people. Dogs is no.31:30 Dogs is a symbol for people who act 1 way and live another. Hypocrites. So Paul calls them in Philippians chapter 3, the dogs. Jesus says, do not fear those, verse 4, who can kill the body31:42 after that they have nothing more they can But I will warn you whom to fear. Fear him who, after he is killed, has authority to cast you into hell. And Jesus is like, and just in case you missed it, yes, fear him.32:11 No. It is helpful. It's helpful. Helping fearing God will help you live a long life. I got a Bible verse that's not on the screen, but you might wanna write it down for later. Proverbs 1032:23 27. Proverbs 10 27 says, the fear of the Lord prolongs life. The fear of the Lord prolongs life, but the wicked will be cut32:34 short. And that's a it makes perfect sense because when when you don't fear God, you'll do things that are against what he wants for you, which will always hurt32:46 you. The Bible says in Proverbs 29 25, it says, the fear of man lays a snare, a trap. If you fear people more than you fear God, you're headed32:58 for a trap. A trap in your finances, a trap in your marriage, a trap in your parenting, a trap in your singlehood. If you fear people more than God. He says, but whoever trusts in Lord is safe. This is a verse that's so33:10 good. You gotta read it in all the translations. The message translation says, the fear of human opinion disables. Some of you, this is what you're doing in life. Right? You're walking around like this because you33:21 followed the insanity of that friend, or you listened to the nonsense of the news channel, or you listened to some person who had not your best interest33:33 in mind, did not have the mind of Christ, but had the mind of this world. Again, in the new century version, I love this, being afraid of people can get you into trouble. But if you trust the Lord, you'll be saved. The33:42 word for snare, it says the fear of the Lord the fear of man is the snare, is literally hook in the nose. Some people are walking around like this, and you're just being led in. This is you all the time. Well, my33:54 neighbor's doing it, so I'll do it. Well, my friends are doing it, so I'll do it. And listen. Single people, if you're afraid of being alone, you might be hooked by the wrong kind of guy, the wrong kind of girl. If34:04 you're afraid of losing money, you'll be hooked by cheating and and and, you know, imbalanced scales. You gotta watch out for the things that are hooking you, trying to hook you. Jeremiah 17 says, thus says the Lord,34:16 cursed is the man who trusts in, what? Man. Cursed is the man who trusts in man. He says, and makes flesh his strength whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert. In other words, there's34:27 nothing to him. He just kind of tumbles. He's a tumbleweed. He just tumbles all over. Wherever the wind goes, oh, that's what I'm going to do. And he says, look. He says, and he shall not I'm sorry. He's like a shepherd34:36 in the desert. He shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in a parched place, a dying place, a wilderness, an uninhabited salt land. Verse 7, but blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord whose trust is in the Lord.34:51 Fear God and escape the insanity of this world. Let God be your motivator. What does God think about that? Every everything that we do, big things. I'm not talking about like, what35:03 coffee should I buy? But big things. What does God say about that? James says, look, don't go and say, well, here's what we're gonna do. In a year, we're gonna move there and make business. And da da da, and blah35:15 blah blah. And he says, no. Don't. It's foolish to even say that. You should say, if the Lord wills. What does God have to say about this? Some of you got to learn how to do that on a regular basis with your life.35:27 What does God have to say about this thing that I'm thinking about or I want? Because Jesus says that you've got to fear him who can cast you into hell. Let me get some doctrine out35:39 that some people don't even know. The devil is not in charge of hell. He's not. The you think that he's down there with a pitchfork and he's like,35:50 I can't wait to come up there and get you. That is you got that from Tom and Jerry, not the bible.36:01 Jesus is in charge of hell. The Bible says in Philippians that every knee will bow and every tongue will confess in36:13 heaven and on earth. And listen, under the earth that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the father. Do you know what's gonna happen in hell?36:25 People who hate God are gonna be in misery saying Jesus Christ is Lord, and I'm in misery. Because Jesus has the keys of hell and death, and he36:36 rules there as well as in here. You gotta put your fear in him. Let him call the shots in your life. I said this the first Tuesday, and I wanna say36:48 it again. Some of you gotta go to the movie theaters and watch after death. And don't just go alone. Bring a friend. Actually, we're gonna play it here in37:00 December. What date? You don't know, Shane. December seventh? Check the calendar because we will be playing it here in an Apollo37:11 Beach and in Norwood. Bring someone. Bring someone. I was at a restaurant last night. I know this guy's not saved, and he was talking about movies with me. And I said, you know what movie37:23 you need to see? Go see After Death. And what I love about it is because it's a Christian movie, but it's not preachy at all. It's really good. Some people need to be scared. December fifteenth. Thank you, elder Doug.37:35 December fifteenth. December fifteenth. Here, and bring a friend. Bring someone with you. We gotta get back into business here.37:47 Hell should motivate us to love our neighbor. To say, come. Come to church with me. The fear of God should motivate us to reach out to someone who's on their way37:59 there, and we don't rejoice over people going to hell. We weep. We cry. Our heart should be burdened. And and and and38:11 you say, I know my heart is burdened for my son, for my nephew, for my cousin, for my grandkid. I get that. But they're all god's kids. Right. He weeps over a single 1. He does not take pleasure in the death of the38:22 wicked, not 1 bit. So why would God create a place where he would send people to hell? It's for the people who don't love him. Where else can they go? We are eternal souls. And some of you here38:33 today, you gotta do business with God, and you gotta come out of the fires of hell today. Today is your day of salvation. Today is the day for God to transmit you from the kingdom38:45 of darkness into the kingdom of his marvelous light. Number 3, do I realize God's concern for me? And I love what Jesus does here because he's all about talking about fear him who can cast38:57 you into hell, fear him, fear him. And then like on a dime, he turns and he's like, Okay, now let's talk about how much he loves you. That's how Jesus ministers. He says in verse 6, are not 5 sparrowsShow more
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