The topic this morning is an interesting topic.
If churches are trying to win a popularity
contest, we're not going to talk about this.
If I'm trying to win a popularity contest,
I'm not going to talk about this topic.
Many of you know there was a debate
last week at the college that I had
the privilege of participating in, and this topic
upset a lot of people there as well.
The topic is walking in the fear of
the Lord.
Walking in the fear of the Lord.
The reason a lot of times these types
of topics aren't popular is because they are
confrontational.
They're sometimes difficult.
Personally, I don't have a problem with the
fear of the Lord.
I thank God for the fear of the
Lord because then you don't fear the government.
Then you don't fear poverty.
Then you don't fear death.
Oh, death, where is your sting?
Our resurrected king has rendered you defeated.
We sing that song, and walking in the
fear of the Lord, to me, brings tremendous
comfort.
It's interesting to find the word fear and
comfort in the same sentence, but we're going
to find that in the book of Acts.
But the reason a lot of times we
don't understand these things is because we think
of God as love, and the Bible says
God is love.
But we don't stop there.
We remember the other attributes, that God is
holy, God is righteous, God is all-knowing,
God is all-powerful, He is our king,
He is our savior, He is our judge,
He is our lawgiver.
So it's not just this one attribute of
God being love, and actually, perfect love casts
out fear.
But we will always have fear on this
side of heaven, and we either fear God
or we fear man.
Many of the decisions that people make are
because they fear man and they don't fear
God.
So where we're at this morning, we are
in Acts 9, Acts 9 31, and I'm
not going to do a long sermon on
all of Acts 9.
I'm actually just going to pull this verse
out of Acts 9 and talk about walking
in the fear of the Lord.
Fear of the Lord is very healthy.
It reminds me of when I was in
construction, and when I was digging heavy equipment,
I was operating a heavy equipment operator for
water districts and myself, and they would paint
something on the street.
It was in yellow, and it would say
HP, which is high pressure.
Gas main from Texas is right here.
You hit that, and you will cease to
exist.
On the other side was a 12,000
volt line from Southern California Edison, and also
fiber optics from Verizon.
And all these things, I had a very,
very healthy respect and reverence for these things
in order to live, in order to also
not hit things and put people out of
power and water.
And that's the type of respect and reverence
for God.
It's not this, we think of here comes
the lightning bolt, right, I'm walking out, and
here comes the lightning bolt.
God hates me, I'm fearing God, but that's
not the image the Bible paints.
There's a respect and there's a reverence, and
the same way I had reverence for these
things, we have reverence and respect for God.
Now, there is a wrong view of the
fear of the Lord, and some people on
a very legalistic side will use this to
hurt people and to harm people and to
scare their children under their beds.
God's watching all the time, you little rascal.
And he just, and he wants to just
hit you with a sledgehammer, you better keep
yourself in order.
And we have this, sometimes this image of
God as we had as our father, and
this angry, and we don't see that in
the Bible.
So I'm gonna hopefully unpack what it means
to walk in the fear of the Lord.
Acts 9.31, then the churches throughout Judea,
Galilee, and Samaria had peace and were edified.
Now, they didn't have peace earlier when Paul
was running havoc, Saul was running havoc on
the churches and wanting to kill Christians and
throw them into prison.
There wasn't a lot of peace going on.
And the church isn't real big right now.
It was just starting in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria,
out to the ends of the earth.
But right now, it's right here in Judea,
southern part of Israel, and then Samaria, and
then Galilee moving up north.
So it'd be like the churches in the
Yellow Valley, the churches in Bishop, and the
churches in Lake Tahoe, reaching that area.
So all these churches now had peace, and
they were edified, they were being built up,
and they walked in the fear of the
Lord.
It says, and walking in the fear of
the Lord and in the comfort of the
Holy Spirit, they were multiplied.
Right here, you see the word fear and
comfort in the same sentence.
You don't think you'd ever see that, would
you?
I fear the government, but I feel very
comforted.
Or I fear darkness, like my kids, they
don't like the light off.
You know, I fear darkness, I feel very
comfortable.
No, I want the light on.
So often, we don't see fear and comfort
in the same sentence or in the same
type of framework, but with God, that brings
comfort.
Because I fear, I have reverence and respect
for an all-knowing, all-powerful God who
has my back, he has my front, he
has my sides.
Nothing can happen.
No demonic realm can hurt a person walking
in the fear of God unless God allows
it.
And there was at the debate, I don't
know if some of you knew this, but
there was people from the satanic temple of
Los Angeles there.
It's like, oh gosh, are you scared?
Not at all, not at all.
They actually left when I began my closing
statement.
Like, get me outta here, we can't hear
this anymore.
But see, so that brings, because I fear
God and respect God and he wants what's
best for me more than I want what's
best for me.
Because he knows, so I rest in his
fear and then I can walk in comfort
through my daily life.
When trial comes, when circumstances come, when the
courts or whatever it is come against you,
there's comfort because you're trusting in God.
Now you will fight bouts of anxiety and
worry, I do, because our human tendency, our
corrupt DNA from Adam has put in us
that type of fear.
But God says, I have not given you
a spirit of fear, but of peace and
of sound mind.
So when we walk in fear and we
fear man rather than God, that's not of
God.
It's our sinful nature taking over.
And you're seeing that, you're gonna see that
a lot more in the unrest.
The civil unrest that's going on in our
nation is directly related to fear.
They fear and it's not gonna, without God
moving and awakening our nation, that's not gonna
get better.
It's going to be more unrest and more
unrest and more fear and more fear.
And then you see the people of God
trusting God and resting in him.
You see this conflict that's going on.
That's really what this is, a conflict of
good and evil, of truth and error, of
right and wrong conflicting in the light and
the darkness and different things.
So we see here first, there was a
season of peace.
So the church had a season of peace.
Saul brought the church to her knees and
scared the church.
And then there's a season of peace.
And then in Herod in chapter 12, we'll
bring in some more persecution to the church.
But there's a season of peace and comfort.
Now, interesting here.
John Calvin said, let us learn not to
abuse external peace by being involved in pleasures
and idleness.
When the churches had peace, they were not
drunk with the pleasures of earthly joy.
What he means there is peace can be
a double-edged sword.
When there's peace, often, what do we do?
Bye, God.
Thank you very much.
I had fun and thanks for helping me.
But now I'm pursuing the things of the
world.
I'm drunk with the pleasures of this world.
Now, there's nothing wrong with enjoying life to
a certain degree.
Please take your spouse on a date night.
Watch a good movie.
Case for Christ is coming out pretty soon.
And sit out back and drink some decaffeinated
organic tea.
You know, I mean, take care of, enjoy
what God has given us.
The problem is is when these joys and
these pleasures begin to crowd out and choke
out our relationship with God, and we don't
want anything to do with God, but everything
to do with the world and the pleasures
of the world and entertainment.
It's this thirst for entertainment.
So that's what he's talking about here.
Peace is wonderful, but the downside of that
is it brings us off and towards this
other side away from God.
Have you seen that in your own life?
When things are going well, and everything's going
good, and there's tons of peace, and it's
hard to follow God.
It's usually in that furnace of affliction, that
sledgehammer of difficulties, and the vice of hard
circumstances.
Those usually draw us to God.
And that's usually when a church is healthy
is when it's going through some amount of
difficulties.
If you were to compare the church in
America to the church in China, you would
be embarrassed.
Straight, you guys ready for some truth this
morning?
Because you would be embarrassed.
The length of their worship services, the heart
for God, when they get the Bible in
their language, they cry, they weep, they spend
hours.
But it's the persecution.
Because what happens in persecution, you really see
who's serious.
If persecution would come here, you would see
the churches a lot less, a lot less,
well you would see them a lot less
full.
They would not be filled to capacity.
There wouldn't be as many people when persecution
comes.
So that's one downside to peace, is you
have to be careful.
Also, the churches were edified.
Edified means to improve morally or intellectually.
They were edified when they feared God.
Now, I'm glad I remember this, because during
the first service I sang, I should have
wrote that down.
But I've seen Christian believers three, four years
in the faith, and they are way more
mature, if that's okay to say, you English
professors, they're much more mature than those who
have been Christians 25 years, or 30 years.
Why?
Because they're walking in the fear of the
Lord.
And there's obedience there.
There's commitment.
They're surrendering to God.
They're walking, so as a result, they're edifying,
they're growing.
That's how you actually grow spiritually.
Many people think you grow spiritually.
Well, I've been coming to church 40 years.
Well, your heart's as hard as a stone.
You don't win anybody to the Lord.
You're negative, you're unforgiving, you're bitter, you're resentful.
You've been stuck with the baby binky in
your mouth for 20 years.
Because you're not growing.
You know what binkies are?
Those little things that pop out.
You run, oh, it didn't touch the ground.
Here you go.
Or you find water, clean it real quick
or something.
But, or moms do, right?
So that's, but that's spiritual maturity.
You're edifying, and you're being built up when
you walk in the fear of the Lord.
So if you're not growing spiritually, if you're
stuck and stagnant, then this could be an
area where you want to pay great attention
to.
Because here's what it is, in short.
Walking in the fear of the Lord is
walking.
I'm walking in obedience to what he's called
me to do.
I'm removing jealousy and bitterness and anger, and
even though I might struggle with it, you're
forgiving, you're repentant, you're broken before the Lord,
you're humble, you're spending time in his words,
you're reading, you're worshiping your Lord.
Keep me back on track, keep me back
on track.
You're walking in the fear of the Lord,
and as a result, you grow spiritually.
You grow, there's no way not to grow.
That is spiritual growth.
The amazing thing is, I'm going through the
book of Acts, is the most mature believers
in this book of Acts were not believers
very long.
The reason they were mature is because they
were walking in that fear.
Also, of course, the churches multiplied when they
feared God.
Proverbs 1.7, the fear of the Lord
is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise
wisdom and discipline.
So a person who fears the Lord, that
is the beginning of knowledge.
If you're wondering, what is God's will?
I'm having a hard time discerning God's will.
What is God's plan for my life?
Start here.
The fear of the Lord is the foundation
on which you build your house.
Then go the walls, and then go the
roof, and the insulation, all those things.
We want the house without the foundation.
We want to know God's will without the
structure and the support.
But Proverbs is clear that the fear of
the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.
It's the beginning of wisdom.
It's the beginning of all understanding.
It has to start here.
Also, the interesting thing about fear is fear
is a restraining force.
Fear restrains people.
Only fools would want to remove this restraining
force.
Robert Winthrop, who was one of the founders
of our nation, said, men must be controlled
either by a power within or by a
power without, either by the word of God
or by the strong arm of man, either
by the Bible or by the bayonet.
Fear, in that sense, restraining force.
First, three things we see where fear is
important looking at Scripture.
God fearing people should lead our nation.
Oh, you better be glad.
Even the balcony can clap on that one.
God fearing people, our nation should fear God.
Rulers should fear God.
When the Supreme Court justices put on those
gowns, they should fear God.
The legislature, the president, all those areas should
fear God.
Our nation was founded on fearing God, and
we should have a reverence and a respect
for that.
That's why Psalms says, blessed is the nation
whose God is the Lord.
Verse 18, behold, the eye of the Lord
is upon those who fear him.
This is interesting.
I didn't read the first service, but I'm
gonna read it here.
The Delaware Constitution, hundred and some years ago,
I don't know, well, no, actually, 1776.
The Constitution, probably 1800s.
So the Delaware Constitution said this, required that
everybody appointed to public office must say, I
do profess, wait, right hand, I do profess
faith in God the Father and in the
Lord Jesus Christ, his only Son.
What happened?
Separation of church and state.
Guys, be quiet.
Don't talk about this God stuff.
Remove the foundation.
Remove the foundation, and the building will come
crumbling down.
You couldn't even run for office unless you
feared God.
You couldn't even vote, voice your opinion, unless
you feared God.
There was a healthy fear of God.
Alexander Hamilton, signer of the Constitution, said the
law dictated by God himself is, of course,
superior in obligation to any other.
It is binding all over the entire globe
and in all countries and at all times.
No human laws are of any validity if
they are contrary to the laws of God.
Blessed be the name of our God.
Where is this?
My goodness.
This, I don't know, it just gets me
fired up to see how far we have
drifted.
And you know, I probably should head it
off before I get the emails.
What about slavery?
Well, let me tell you about that terrible
mark in our nation's history that you actually
had, I've got pages and pages and pages
and pages of founding fathers who abhorred the
practice of slavery that was brought over by
Britain.
It was actually William Wilberforce, a Christian.
It was Christians who fought against this.
So let's not throw the baby out with
the bathwater.
Anytime I mention the founding of America, that's
what they say.
But the truth is you had many Christians
fighting for the things that are right.
You had God-fearing men fighting for the
things that were right.
So let's not throw the baby out with
the bathwater.
Be careful in this area.
Clearly, it was a nation founded on God.
The Mayflower, when they came back, on the
Mayflower, Cape Cod Bay, 1620s, they said for
the advancement of the Christian faith, the proclamation
of the gospel, you look at the constitutions,
you look at the laws, you look at
the legislation.
Noah Webster, you ever heard of the Webster's
Dictionary?
Do you know what it used to have
by every word it defined?
It's scriptures to support that word.
Folks, if you look into how far we
have drifted, you would either laugh or cry.
Laugh saying God help us and crying saying
how could we?
We've drifted.
We have drifted.
If you want more information, if you have
a passion about this, let me know.
I wrote a book entitled One Nation Above
God that I will give you that documents
all of these things.
They would even, I think it was Benjamin
Franklin who said he would recommend that every
school taught the word of God and primarily
the New Testament.
Actually, the public school system, I believe, was
founded in 1620 in order to teach kids
the word of God.
Just ponder that for a minute.
How we walked in the fear of God.
America was blessed.
Of course, yes, there's some bad areas, but
overall, they walked in the fear of God.
Men made legislation.
Before they wrote the Constitution, they quoted or
referenced the Bible four times more than any
other source.
I'm just gonna go off in a minute,
so I'm just gonna get back on track.
The church is a gathering of God-fearing
people.
You have a nation that fears God.
You have a church that fears God.
See, in church, there should be a healthy
respect for God.
When we walk in here, at least when
I do, when I walk in here, sometimes
early in the morning and turn on the
worship, and you're in God's house.
Yes, he's everywhere, but there's a special place
sometimes where worship is felt, where prayer is
being exercised, where the word is going out,
where there's an awe and a respect.
God's people should fear him, and that changes
the way you do church because you make
sure the worship songs are doctrinally sound.
There's some leeway, of course, but you make
sure that the messages don't compromise the essentials.
You make sure that prayer, you make sure
that church discipline takes place.
We love the person, but we're not going
to allow certain things, and I know a
lot of different churches.
I know a lot of different churches that
will just, oh, we're not gonna say anything.
There's one church right now, I wouldn't even
say if it's our area, I wouldn't say,
but I can't even call them to tell
them that one of their members who involved
in worship has a girlfriend while he's still
married because they won't do anything.
We hate sin, but love the sinner.
We aim for a high standard of living,
but we offer grace when we miss the
mark.
We love unconditionally, but we still warn the
prodigal son.
And there's a big misconception on this area.
Yes, sometimes a church is hard with people
because they won't change until they're abruptly stopped
and they're confronted.
And then when they see the error of
their way, they repent and they seek forgiveness,
then their arms are open.
Paul says that have nothing to do with
a person caught in sexual immorality.
It's interesting, he goes, now, I'm not talking
about the world because you'd have to go
outside of the world to find those, anybody
who does that.
And I'm not supporting aliens.
That question was asked Sunday night.
I'm not supporting aliens.
But you, he said, but believers who name
the name of Christ, who want fellowship with
you when they're involved in tons of gossip
and covetousness and sexual immorality and all these
things, Paul says, don't have anything to do
with them.
See, it has nothing to do with I'm
better than you and I'm not gonna play
with you, ha, ha, ha, ha, ha, like
kids do.
But it has to do, I love God
so much and his word, I fear him,
that I cannot condone what you're doing as
if it doesn't matter.
You see the difference?
There's a big difference there.
So when a church has to step in
and reprimand or lovingly confront, it's not with
a judgmental attitude.
It's with a broken, humble attitude that wants
to help the person.
But if we just say, I know that's
going, I can't allow it.
I know they're doing, I can't, I just
don't wanna, I don't wanna, gosh, we're losing
too many people.
It's spring break or, you know, we don't
wanna say anything.
Let's just hope God convicts him.
Right, just hope God convicts him.
But that's why he's given us the word
of God and others to come alongside and
convict.
Church is a gathering of God-fearing people,
but so is the family.
You have the nation, you have the church,
you have the family.
God should be feared and reverence in our
homes.
Listen, I've been in a lot of homes.
I don't know if he's fear and reverence
very much.
I don't know.
What's popular?
What's promoted?
What are our kids watching, viewing?
What are we allowing in our homes?
There's no, there's no fear.
And actually, it all starts in the home.
Let's get a little honest here.
As the home goes, so goes the nation.
We love to complain about the nation, but
not our homes.
See, you fix the home, you fix the
nation.
You fix the home, you fix the church.
Everything is in that incubator, if you will.
The fear of God, the love of God.
Now, there's broken homes.
There's single moms, single dads trying, and I'm
not coming against that at all.
I think God is in there in a
powerful way, and they can make a difference,
but it starts in the home.
You look at God-fearing people often are
created in the home.
Psalm 33, 18, but the eyes of the
Lord are on those who fear him.
His eyes are on those who fear him.
This is the cure for many problems.
I'm gonna help you right now, free counseling
appointment.
Shane, do you charge for counseling?
No, I don't.
But just free, we'll just throw it out
there.
The cure, I wish I had more time
to counsel.
Actually, it's, I'd go on a rabbit trail
on that one, but I won't.
My prayer often is, Lord, 100 hours in
the course of a day.
That's all he needs, 100 hours.
Can you do that?
Can you make some time?
But on this issue, the cure, the cure
for many problems, right now, I'm gonna tell
you what it is, is to fear God.
Is to fear God.
This would cure many problems.
I've actually reached out to a man who
doesn't go here, decided to leave his wife,
and she just had a three-month-old.
And we go, oh, God.
That's what happens.
When you don't fear God, that's what happens.
This would fix many, if people would just
fear God, they would treat their spouse better.
If they would fear God, they would treat
their children better.
If they would fear God, things would change
in the home.
See, it starts with fear.
Shane, how's that possible?
I fear God.
Sometimes we can fear Him here, but not
here.
I know many religious people that fear God,
but they act as if they're Howard Stern.
That'll catch up when you get home.
But there has to be a fear here
and here.
See, I fear and reverence God, so I'm
gonna walk it out.
Actually, walk, oh, we just read that.
Walking in the fear of the Lord.
Your faith has application.
Boy, you're stepping on toes.
Exactly.
We are stepping on toes this morning.
Psalm 8611.
Teach me your way, O Lord, and I
will walk in your truth.
Give me an undivided heart that I may
fear your name.
So that tells me divided hearts don't really
fear God.
Do you know what a divided heart is?
Let me ask the question.
Do you know what a divided heart is?
Okay, good, I'm glad you asked.
Here's an example.
We're gonna go to, well, let me talk
about walking in the fear of the Lord.
I think I clarified it, but walking in
the fear of the Lord is living it
out.
You are living God's word out.
You're living it out.
Romans 8.1. Therefore, there is no condemnation
to those who are in Christ Jesus who
do not walk according to the flesh but
according to the Spirit.
There's no condemnation for those who are in
Christ Jesus who do not walk according to
the flesh but according to the Spirit.
Now, I've heard good Bible teachers say, well,
that last part really shouldn't be in there.
It should say this.
There is therefore no condemnation to those who
are in Christ Jesus.
And that's true, because we don't work for
it, do we?
We don't maintain it.
So why is that added?
Well, I believe this is why it's added.
There is no condemnation for those who are
in Christ Jesus.
And how do you know if you're truly
in Christ Jesus?
How do you know if your faith is
sincere?
You will walk according to the Spirit and
not according to the flesh.
So those who walk according to the Spirit,
there's no condemnation.
So it's not a works-based thing we're
doing.
It's saying there's no condemnation in you, but
if you're walking just like the world, you
look just like the world, you might want
to check your faith.
Now, we all struggle, don't we, to walk
towards the world.
We all struggle a little bit, but a
person I found that is truly a believer,
they want to please God.
They're not just saying the right things.
They don't know the lingo, and they don't
act Christian.
Let me speak Christianese, and let me do
the right things and say the right things.
A person who's truly walking in the fear
of God walks it out, not perfectly.
It looks like this, but it is walking
in that direction.
So here's an example of God's people not
fearing Him, and here's what happens.
When we forget who He is and what
He did, we begin to stop fearing Him.
So 1 Kings 18, I'll just read it.
Let me give you a little backdrop.
Have you heard of Elisha in the Bible?
The prophet Elisha, he was harassing King Ahab
and wicked Queen Jezebel.
That's why you don't have any kids named
Jezebel.
I don't think you've ever heard any kings
named Ahab, right?
There's a reason for that.
There's not too many Samsons out there.
I don't know of a Delilah.
The reason is because the Bible doesn't speak.
Maybe there's a Delilah, I don't know.
Well, I'll find out.
I'm sure I'll get an email.
So we have this.
Elisha is rebuking the wicked King Ahab.
He's rebuking Jezebel.
He's going about and saying, you have left
God.
Look at all these bells.
These gods, they're called Bell.
And it was a god of fertility.
So they would have all kinds of things
going on.
And these parties and worshiping Bell, this fertility
god.
And the people said, I like that, but
I also like Yahweh.
I like this.
And they would be going back and forth.
So Elisha rebuked the king, Ahab.
And as he was coming towards the king,
he said, oh, you troubler of Israel, why
have you come?
So Elisha's troubling Israel?
Hello?
This wicked king is one troubling Israel.
But it's funny how when a person's caught
in sin and they love their sin, they'll
call you the troubler.
I mean, I know there's a lot of
people right now saying, oh, Shane, you troubler
of America.
Would you just be quiet?
Leave us alone on these things, right?
We love our sin.
We love our debauchery.
We love how we're living.
So anyway, the king said, you troubler of
Israel.
And then Elisha comes, verse 18, chapter 18
says, I have not troubled Israel, but you
and your father's house, in that you have
forsaken the commandments of the Lord and have
followed the bells.
Therefore, now therefore, send and gather all Israel
to me on Mount Carmel.
Now that's a pretty powerful man of God,
if he can tell the king to be
quiet and go get all these false prophets
and meet them on Mount Carmel.
So what happens, Elisha comes to Mount Carmel.
They build this altar, and he says, let
the God who answers by fire, let him
be God.
Let's see if your God is real.
So all these false prophets are up on
this altar, jumping up and down and cutting
themselves.
And they're bleeding, and they're making this loud
noise.
And Elisha's going, maybe your God's sleeping.
He doesn't hear you.
Maybe he's on vacation.
Better scream louder.
And they're just going crazy on this altar,
and nothing happens.
So he cleans it up a little bit,
puts tons of water on this altar, water
all around it.
And within a second, when he said, let
the God who answers by fire, let him
be God, fire consumed that entire altar.
And the people said, and the people said,
okay, clearly, we've been rejecting the one true
and living God.
So they killed all those false prophets.
But Elisha, the sermon he gave, it was
a real quick one.
How long will you waver between two opinions?
If God is God, follow him.
Another translation says, how long will you falter
between two opinions?
And I think the same call goes out
today.
How long will you falter?
It actually means hop.
How long will you hop back and forth
between two opinions?
And Elisha, the name actually means sent by
God.
God's messenger, he's sent by God.
My God is Yahweh.
So he sends a prophet named, my God
is Yahweh, to challenge the people why their
God is not Yahweh.
It's interesting.
If you dig deep, God is mathematical.
He's psychological.
He's everything fits within the parameters of what
he's doing.
But that's what we do.
We hop.
I love the bell God because it's a
God of fun and addiction and bondage.
And I love, I mean, I don't really
love him, but my sinful side loves him.
We love bell.
But then we do serve Yahweh.
I mean, come on, guys.
That's okay.
And they're going back and forth.
They're popping between two opinions.
So that's not serving God.
See, we think we can serve both God
and the God of this world.
We think we can serve two masters.
But Jesus says you cannot serve two masters.
You'll either love the one and hate the
other or you'll love this one and despise
the other.
See, when I love God, I hate this
God.
I hate this God that is sending kids
to their graves and parents to divorce courts.
I hate this God.
I hate this God that pulls at the
flesh and pulls and pulls.
I hate this God.
Yes, he wins sometimes.
He wins, but I'll kick him right in
the face and get back on track.
I hate this God.
I love this God.
I don't want to waver between two opinions.
But then you have the people that love
this God.
They love this God.
Don't go to church on Sunday.
See, I love this God.
No, you don't.
You love this God.
And they call themselves believers.
And there's even a group in between here.
There's a group that's not saved.
They say the right things and they go
to church now and then, but they're not
saved at whatsoever because there's no fruit.
But then there's a group who I have
a heart for that has fallen into this
side and they can't get out.
They're stuck and they want to.
They want to please God, but they're stuck
in the sin.
It's like the story I've told before about
the lamb and the pig that find their
way to the mud.
The mud represents the sin.
So the pig waddles in the mud.
He just lays there and turns around in
the mud.
And he even leads other pigs in or
sheep in, whoever gets in the mud.
But the lamb is stuck in the mud.
It hates its miserable condition.
It's stuck and it's crying out, God help
me.
I want Yahweh back.
I want.
So I have a heart for that group.
But we have to fear God.
Both of these need to come out of
there and fear God and put Him in
the right place and not go back and
forth between two opinions.
So that's what that whole story was about.
When we don't fear God, we compromise.
We compromise.
Okay, I went to church, but I'm living
like the world.
And that's why you'll hear things like when
I say, God is not a doting grandfather
or a cosmic ball of love.
He's not.
But that's what this side would say, isn't
it?
Oh, you know God.
Wink, wink.
Or just a cosmic ball.
He's just love.
Just love brother out there somewhere.
Just connect to your inner self and meditate.
You'll find Him.
Just that love.
You got to get linked up with that
electricity and that aura and that karma and
all that, you know.
And that's not God.
God is holy and righteous.
It's not about compromising.
It's about fully surrendering our lives.
And I'm careful on this point because I
don't want people leaving here going, Oh, I
can never measure up.
Oh my gosh, Shane has set the standard
so high it's pointless.
No, it's not.
See, but here's the problem in preaching.
You either hit the mark high and we
miss it or you sit it too low
and we hit it.
That's the challenge.
But one of the goals of preaching is
to build and to push you to a
higher level.
To a higher mark.
To a higher following of God and wanting
more of Him.
Psalm 3119, Oh, how great is your goodness
which you have laid upon those who fear
you.
God's goodness, it's like an umbrella that just
shelters you.
God's goodness on those who fear Him.
And we know this, don't we?
We all go through challenges, but there's peace
in the midst of the storm for those
who fear Him.
Now be careful, though.
Some storms are self-created.
Aren't they?
We can't just, because some people say, Oh,
God is testing me.
No, you're testing yourself.
You brought on this own, you brought on
your own problem, your own situation.
The devil's after me.
No, he's not.
You're just spending money terribly.
The devil's after my children.
No, you're watching Oprah and eating bonbons and
drinking beer at night.
Does he still make bonbons?
You know, those little ice cream things.
But that's why some of our problems are
self-created, but God's goodness will flourish in
the heart of those who fear Him.
Well, Shane, how do I know if a
problem, if what I'm going through is self
-created?
It's a very easy test.
I use it often.
Ask, is the fruit of the Spirit evident
in my life?
In other words, if I'm filled with love
and joy and peace, it doesn't mean I
don't get angry a little bit over the
things, but if they're love and peace and
joy and goodness and self-control and I'm
gentle, but I'm persevering, God is with you.
But if there's no fruit, there's just bitterness
and anger and all these things going on
in your heart, you might be creating that
problem.
You might be creating that situation.
Psalm 23, though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death, I will fear,
here's the word again, I will fear no
evil.
So when I fear God, I don't fear
evil.
When we're filled with the things of God,
we don't feel evil or fear evil.
I feel this a lot of times after
a Sunday service.
You know, you leave here, and maybe it's
just me, but you leave here, you're filled
with the Spirit of God.
Worship came on.
I'm like, you get home like, I don't
care if ISIS just took me out right
now.
I could care less.
And then come Friday, you're like, uh-oh,
watching the news, right?
Watch, oh no, oh no, fear factor.
China's gonna bomb us.
Russia's gonna do this, and we'll go into
fear factor mode.
But though who walk through the valley of
the shadow of death isn't just about death,
it's walking through difficult times.
And when you fear God, you don't fear
man.
When you fear God, you don't fear death.
Now, our flesh struggles with fear, and there's
struggles we go through, but ultimately, the more
we focus on fearing God and devoting our
lives to Him, the other fear has to
flee.
See, both fears can't exist in your body,
in your mind.
When you fear God, the other fear must
flee.
But when you fear man, then you don't
have the fear of God.
They cannot coexist.
But back to the church's walking in the
fear of the Lord.
I want you to read chapter nine, the
rest of chapter nine, if you can, this
week.
And you'll see that Peter was walking in
the fear of the Lord.
He was visiting all the coastal cities.
He was preaching.
He was healing people.
And he was raising people from the dead.
And I believe that the more we walk
in the fear of the Lord, the more
miracles we will see.
We will see God working in our life.
We will see God moving in our life.
The closer we walk in the fear of
God, the more we can be used by
God.
Ask anybody.
They don't know about the miracles of God.
They don't know anything about God if they've
never been walking in the fear of God.
Because that's where the power of the Holy
Spirit comes in, when we fear God.
So let me throw out two questions.
Do you need to come back to life?
Like Peter, we saw a resurrection.
You read about a resurrection, but it also
applies spiritually.
Do you need to come back to life?
Spiritual resurrection takes place when we reposition ourselves
to fear God.
So if you need to be revitalized, you
know who you are, don't you?
You're just dying spiritually.
There's no fear of God.
You're just withering away.
If you need spiritual life again, if you
need resurrection, reposition yourself in the fear of
God.
Not worrying about lightning bolts, but worrying about
being filled with the Spirit.
Fearing God, having a reverence and a respect.
Sometimes we walk around with major sin issues
as if it's no big deal.
And we wonder why there's no fear of
God, no respect for God, no reverence for
God.
Those things need to be dealt with and
repented of and have that life come back
to us.
Resurrected from the dead, you can be resurrected
spiritually.
Listen, I've seen this probably more times than
anything else.
Somebody dead to the things of God.
God is kind of boring.
Church is irrelevant.
They're just dying.
You know, no more needs to be said
on that.
And then they come to life.
They're filled with the Spirit.
There's a fear of God, a reverence for
God, and everything comes alive.
That's the difference maker.
Or do you need spiritual life?
Maybe somebody in here has never had spiritual
life.
They've been fearing God, but they've never had
spiritual life.
And we're going to read in Acts 10,
there was a devout man, Cornelius.
This is interesting.
He was a devout man, means he was
disciplined.
He did certain things.
He fasted even.
Oh, goodness.
And he feared God.
But he wasn't saved.
Now, there's many people in religions, you can
think of some right now, they're very devout,
aren't they?
They even have spiritual disciplines.
They fear God.
Something created all this.
I know it, but it doesn't matter if
you don't have a relationship with God.
Cornelius didn't have a relationship.
He was a better Christian than most people
I know.
Christian, I mean, going through the things.
But Peter was sent to him, sent to
the Gentiles, and led him to the Lord,
pointed him to God in this relationship to
God.
In his pride, probably, in his arrogance, he
didn't think he needed to humble himself.
So ask yourself, do you need spiritual life?
Francis Collins, I think I read his quote
Sunday night, he was a renowned geneticist, and
he was head of the Human Genome Project.
Genome is where they study the DNA and
the genes and how it's connected to the
DNA.
He put all this together with different scientists,
and he said this, I had started this
journey of intellectual exploration of the DNA to
confirm my atheism.
That now lay in complete ruins as the
argument from the moral law forced me to
admit the plausibility of God.
In other words, he said, not only the
creation of life and the DNA, as a
side note, do you know what DNA is?
It's 3.2 billion letters that tell your
body how to reproduce life.
Bones, teeth, amino acids, the building blocks, all
these little DNA are working together, little letters,
putting sequences together to build life.
And people think, all that just happened.
All the sequencing just happened.
It's impossible.
And inside of your trillions of cells are
DNA.
So every 3.2 billion letters of information
are in every cell.
That's a lot of information.
It's creation of life.
It's how life was created.
But he said because of the moral law,
what a moral law is is everybody on
the planet has something written on their heart.
They have to worship something.
You go to the farthest remote African village
or India or wherever you go and people
know your neighbor, you shouldn't steal your neighbor's
chicken or your neighbor's pig or you shouldn't
steal your neighbor's wife.
Everybody knows that.
Where's the moral code come from?
Because see, here's what you have to, here's
how, if you're rejecting God, you have to
deal with this.
If an atheist or somebody who doesn't know,
if they believe in evil, they have to
believe in good.
Right?
I mean, how do you, if you have
nothing, you can't just have evil and nothing.
Evil and good to be able to gauge
that evil.
Now if you have evil and good, you
have to have a moral law that explains
what they are.
How do you differentiate between evil and good
without a moral law?
And if you have a moral law, guess
what?
You have a moral law giver.
So it points you right back to God.
That's what he was dealing with.
He said agnosticism, which is a person, oh,
I don't know.
I guess there could be.
Right?
I mean, come on.
I don't know how those happen.
Did we come from an ape?
Did we come from, I don't know.
I don't know.
It's just, I mean, maybe not.
I think there might be something out there
bigger than me.
I like when people, there's something bigger than
me.
Like, is it this big?
I mean, but that's what they say.
So he said agnosticism, which had seemed like
a good second place haven, somewhere to set.
He said, now loomed like the great cop
-out it often is.
Faith in God now seemed more rational than
disbelief.
And he was the head of this project.
He saw the DNA.
He saw the structure.
But here's the kicker.
That still doesn't matter.
That still doesn't cut it.
This person is still on the broad road
to destruction.
He can acknowledge there's a God.
Clearly there's a God.
Moral law giver, there's a God.
Creation, there's a God, but not be in
right relationship with that God.
There's a lot of people in churches, it
usually comes from conservative backgrounds.
Oh, I fear God.
You know, I have a fear of God.
Oh man, the man upstairs, that's what they
say too.
The man, I know there's something out there.
There's a man upstairs and I fear him,
but they're dying and they're on the same
path to judgment as an unbeliever.
So this is a big deal.
You can fear God and still not know
him.
We need to be restored.
Romans 3.23 says, all have sinned to
come short of the glory of God.
All have sinned.
That's why I feel broken.
Romans 6.23, for the wages of sin
is death.
That's why I feel condemned.
In Psalm 51.3, my sin is always
before me.
That's why I feel convicted.
See, that was my closing argument.
That's why there's shame and guilt.
That's why people feel broken.
That's why they feel condemned.
That's why they feel convicted.
People are walking around with a death sentence.
I mean, there's not a pretty way to
put that, is there?
But that's the truth.
People without Christ are walking around with a
death sentence.
Another reason it confirms it's true is because
they don't want to talk about it.
I mean, think about it.
If I said, Mickey Mouse appeared to me
and you're on the road, you're going to
hell unless you believe in Mickey Mouse.
You would yawn as you fell to sleep.
Right?
That poor guy.
I feel sorry for Morgan and the kids.
He's lost it.
Poor guy would just pray for him.
He'd smile.
But why when I say there is a
God who would judge a secret man things
of men's heart, people get upset because they
know it's true.
He's put the moral compass inside of every
person that knows, they know that God exists.
I believe that's why when the scripture says
every knee will bow and every tongue will
confess that Christ is Lord, they will eventually
bow because they know it.
They've just been rejecting it their entire life.
So if we truly believe that, wouldn't we
lovingly tell more people?
Wouldn't we share the gospel?
I mean, that's why I spoke about that
at the debate.
The whole reason I brought up this point
is to tie everything in.
This is the point that upset everybody.
That doesn't love God.
I didn't even get to this point and
that's when the people from the satanic temple
left.
Hell's Satan and we're leaving.
Okay, you might as well leave because your
boss works for my boss.
But why is it so upsetting?
Why is it so upsetting?
Honestly, why is this so convicting and upsetting?
Well, you're narrow-minded.
No, if it's not true, who cares?
You're not gonna get mad.
You just dismiss me and go somewhere else.
But there's something here.
The gift of God is eternal life through
Jesus Christ our Lord.
But God demonstrated his own love toward us
and that while we were still sinners, Christ
died for us.
See, the beautiful thing about God's word is,
when I went up there Sunday, all I
have to do is proclaim it and the
power of the Holy Spirit was some boldness,
right?
Just proclaim it.
I don't care if you believe it.
I'm just a messenger.
Take it up with the author.
That Jesus Christ died for us.
While we were still sinners.
So God says, yes, you're convicted.
Yes, you're broken.
Yes, you are caught in sin.
You're condemned to death.
But, but the gift of God is eternal
life through Jesus Christ.
Only, only a prideful, prideful, arrogant heart would
reject that gift.
Only a prideful, arrogant heart would reject that
gift.
So what must I do?
Fear God and turn to him.
It's not how eloquently you pray.
And people, I get emails too.
I want to know Lord, but what exactly
do I say?
You don't have to exactly say anything.
Your heart has to break and you say,
God, I need you.
Lord, I surrender my life to you.
I repent.
I need to know your son.
I don't know, but I need you.
God's not going, no, you didn't get that
right.
Actually, he didn't say it in the original
Greek.
Actually, Aramaic, and let's go back to the
Hebrew of fearing God.
You didn't, you didn't, you didn't quite, you
know, you missed it here.
No, he just, he doesn't, actually, he doesn't
look for, words are just the way we
communicate.
Communicate is just, communicate coming off of my
tongue, off my vocal cords.
It's just the sound I'm making.
Do you understand?
These are just sounds.
So God doesn't hear the sound.
He hears the sound of the heart.
The heartbreaking, that's why a deaf person can
come to know the Lord.
Somebody who doesn't pray, Shane, I just broke
him before God, and they humble themselves, and
they're filled with the Spirit.
They didn't pray any type of prayer.
Now, hold on before you get mad.
Praying is a good thing.
Praying and saying, God, I need you, and
I love you, and I want to do
your will.
But you don't have to say a perfect
prayer with all the nuances and the correct
terminology.
Because I know a lot of people that
say, if you just say, pray after me,
pray after me.
God, I love you, God, I love you.
And you lead them through a prayer, or
they raise their hand, they're not necessarily saved.
Because a prayer and raising a hand doesn't
save you.
It's exercising faith in the heart.
A broken and contrite heart, God says, I
will not turn away.
A broken, that you can take that to
the bank.
More than your 401k and your retirement, everything
else we're trusting in, when God says, if
a broken and contrite heart comes to me,
I will not turn them away.
It doesn't matter who they are, what country
they are, that's when people get mad.
They say, what about people who never heard
from God?
They're denying, they're denying the conviction that God
gives them.
His invisible attributes are clearly seen so that
they're without excuse.
They're suppressing the truth.
And they're without excuse.
So God gives everybody that internal compass.
And it's up to them to accept or
reject them.
Reject that.
To live your entire life fighting God, mocking
God, and rejecting God, and to trust your
soul to the ever-changing theories of science
and the winds of speculation, to me, is
the greatest tragedy that man has ever known.
A life of rebellion leads to an eternity
of separation from God.
In the end, the rebel gets his way.
You have to fear God.
Folks, if we could sum everything up in
this, you must fear God.
Your carnal nature, the enemy, the world, everything
around you is telling you not to fear
God.
Everything around you is telling you not to
fear God.
Actually, the world, doesn't the world live like
the scripture says?
Eat and drink and be merry, for tomorrow
we die.
That's the focus.
And trust me, as someone who has talked
to people before they die, on their deathbed,
or close to death, the sinking reality of
the life they've wasted suddenly implodes and they
break down.
Oh, you can't rob Peter without paying Paul.
You know, the old saying.
I mean, something, you pay now, you pay
later, but you're gonna pay.
You have to deal with this now.
Do you truly fear God?
Because you want to live your life fearing
God, filled with the Spirit of God, looking
to Him, looking to Him for the answers.