Embrace Love to Overcome Fear - Best of Bill Johnson Sermons | Bethel Church

0:00 Every response we have in life is either out of love or it's out of fear. Love or fear is the source of our words, our responses, our directives in life, the things that we pursue, the things we choose not to pursue. It's either because of love or it's because of fear. I want to talk to you about love versus fear.

0:21 Everything you hear and receive into your life gets filtered by love or fear. Everything that flows from us is affected by love or fear. Our reaction response to all the issues around us either take place out of love or fear. They're the two defining elements of a person's life. oftentimes what we recognize is happening around us those who are motivated by love will pick up on the good news see the hand of god at work those who are controlled manipulated by fear will always recognize the works of darkness and it doesn't mean recognizing the work of darkness means you're motivated by fear but those are still the end results and so what i want to do is i want to talk to you about this issue of fear. And the reason is because it's the number one command in scripture. It's repeated more often than any other. Do not fear. And when the Lord repeats a command as frequently as he does throughout this entire owner's manual, it's because he's exposing or revealing the number one tactic that the enemy uses to disengage us from our life source.

1:33 He can't cut me off from my life sorts in the sense of I have a relationship with God. But in the same way that you can have a dislocated arm where you no longer have full use of it, he wants me to be out of function, out of my role, out of usefulness. And fear does that. Fear is where we actually agree with the enemy. And anytime you believe a lie, you empower the liar. and so what the Lord does is he's exposing the tactics of the enemy. I don't like to become devil focused. It's really boring to me and it's unappealing and there's nothing I like about it but Paul does say I don't want you to be unaware of the devil's devices so that's an important thing that we realize the tools that he used. When the Lord says do not fear he's never saying it to expose what we're doing wrong. In other words, it's not a shame deal. It's not a look at you, you're blowing it again. What he's doing, whenever he says, do not fear, he's opening up to us that within reach is the grace to be victorious over fear. It's never a command where here, go take care of this. It's always a partnership. When he gives commands, he empowers us to do what we previously couldn't do. It's the nature of grace. Grace enables, grace empowers. And so when the Lord says, do not fear, he's merely saying, okay, right at this moment, there is within reach the capacity, the grace for you to deal with this that's come against you. Having the experience of fear, the emotion of fear is not a sin. Partnering with it is.

3:13 embracing it as though it were truth. How many know there's a difference between facts and truth? There are things that are true that aren't truth. you know a doctor's report don't pretend it's not there if a doctor's report is is there and it's they've discovered something wrong denial won't help you acknowledge what it is but then coming to truth that deals with the fact that jesus has already taken care of that here's the cool thing about promises bob hazlett when he was with us here i think a month ago he made a comment that really has got me stirring and and uh it was something to this effect, that whenever God gives us a promise, wait here, look at it this way. God is outside of time. We are in time. Whenever he gives us a promise, it is already done in his realm. It's already a finished, completed thing. And so what we do is we pray, we obey, we cooperate, we do the things that he's assigned for us to do because we actually are used by the Lord to help bring the release to the breakthrough that we prayed out for.

4:22 sometimes we have a role in seeing breakthroughs sometimes our only job is to observe and it's it's frustrating to try to figure out what season you're in because and the only way I know is is to is to try something and have it not work then I go oops apparently it's the other season because there's two basic options one is the violence violence the faith is violent the kingdom of heaven suffers violence the violent take it by force the kingdom of heaven suffers violence the violent take it by force when that season is going on in our lives it's because the Lord is emphasizing our authority he's wanting us to come face to face with how he's equipped us to be continuously victorious over the powers of darkness but there's another season and you can't do both at the same time the second season says, Jesus says in Mark 10, unless you receive the kingdom as a child, you cannot enter it.

5:24 So on one season, you're violently taking, that's the expression of faith. But in the other season, you're in a place of rest where it's brought to you. I mean, you can't do them both at the same time you get a whiplash. You hurt yourself. In the second season, the emphasis is not your authority as a warrior. The emphasis is on your childlikeness that receives an inheritance. is something that's done for you. And these promises the Lord has given us to really steer us, empower us, to deal with the fear issue actually come in both realms. They sometimes come as that commissioning or that compelling charge to pray with fasting, to make the decrees, fight the fight, fight the good fight of faith, do whatever's necessary to see this fear issue defeated so that you can stand in absolute confidence. But other times, it's a grace thing. It's just a grace thing. It's always grace.

6:17 But it's a grace thing in that it sovereignly has released you as a gift. You didn't even fight for it. There's no work involved. Both are necessary. And so anyway, that's kind of what we're going to look at today. I want you to look at Isaiah 51. Did I tell you where to turn? Yes? No? Some of you heard me, some of you didn't. Isaiah 51. I've got a couple passages here, three actually, that we're going to read to try to identify why the enemy has had such a focus in that area. Because if we understand why he's made a priority of promoting fear, then it will help us to have the resolve to keep insulated from things that we've been vulnerable to. All right? Isaiah 51 verse 12. I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die, the son of man who will be made like grass and you forget the Lord your maker who stretched out the heaven lays the foundations of the earth you have feared continually every day go back to verse 12 I even I am he who comforts you who are you to fear that's an interesting approach to fear you would think that the father would come and pat us on the back and massage our egos and say oh here here I'll take care of everything for you everything's fine he actually stands before us and he says, I'm the one who comforts you.

7:38 Have you noticed my size? Who do you think you are being afraid? Who do you think you are? Did you actually think it was about you? sometimes we need a wake-up call like that that that isn't the sympathetic pat that we thought we were going to get and instead it's the jar into the reality oh when i choose fear i'm choosing the inferior of the absolute manifested presence of god who is here to defend me in any and every situation fear is embracing the inferior who do you think you are being afraid nobody look at look at Isaiah 54 Isaiah 54 has a great verse on the fear that verse 13 is a is a prayer that I've prayed over my own children still do I've been praying for probably 39 years verse 13 all your children will be taught by the Lord great shall be the peace of your children verse 14 in righteousness you will be established you will be far from oppression for you shall not fear. Look at that phrase. You will be far from oppression. Why? Because you won't fear.

8:53 What is oppression? Oppression is that moment where we make agreement with a lie and we invite the atmosphere of darkness to influence our thoughts and our values. It's actually a cloud of darkness that comes when we believe the lie. yes bill that's a very good point when here's an interesting thing fear doesn't start off oftentimes doesn't start off as a spirit a spirit of fear sometimes it's just it's just a simple emotion i mean no you can you can work yourself into fear without the devil being you know 100 miles away i mean we you know we don't need him to be stupid Thank you. I don't. I'll speak for yourself. So some sins we always, we think are spiritual, but actually oftentimes they start in the natural realm. And the extreme example of this in Galatians five actually refers to witchcraft as a sin that starts as a sin of the flesh. That's just bizarre.

10:00 I mean here's this you know cultic involvement the demonic all this world swirling about a person who's involved in witchcraft the scripture says it starts off as a sin of the flesh what is witchcraft in its basic form it is the want to be in charge and to control your environment so that you remain in charge it is the absence of trust in God and it starts as a sin of the flesh it becomes supernaturally empowered and eventually becomes very demonic, becomes a stronghold of the demonic. Does that make sense to you? The same is true with fear. Fear oftentimes just starts as, I got a bill in the mail that I didn't expect, and I don't have money for. I mean, you start feeding into that thing, and pretty soon, in no time at all, you're just buried in fear and worry, anxiety, all the junk that all of us face. Every one of us deal with this stuff. And so we get buried in that thing, and it actually invites the spirit realm to come and reinforce.

10:56 And it becomes a much bigger battle than it was when we were just dealing with our own discipline. One more passage I want you to look at. It's in Philippians chapter 1. and then I want to talk to you for a little bit.

11:17 Philippians 1 is one of my favorite ones on the subject of fear. Verse 27 says, Let your conduct be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of your affairs, that you stand fast in one spirit with one mind, striving together for the faith of the gospel. Here's the verse. not in any way terrified by your adversaries which is to them proof of perdition but to you of salvation now think through this verse this is really powerful not in any way terrified by your adversaries which is to them proof of eternal judgment so think through this every time you and are victorious over a fear issue, what is broadcast on the PA of hell, the powers of darkness, is pending doom, absolute eternal judgment. And they try to get you to fear so they don't have to think about what's coming.

12:21 I've got some really good news for you I heard just recently every time we are victorious over the fear issue what happens is the enemy all the powers of darkness come face to face with the fact that they are eternally doomed and there is no solution and that's what the victory over fear does is it pronounces, it announces it reminds what is coming their way. No wonder the powers of darkness work so hard to get us in fear, both to dislocate us in our sense of effectiveness, but also to erase from their thinking what they are facing. That's amazing. That's amazing.

13:11 So I want you to open your Bibles to Isaiah 51. Isaiah 51. And it's just a passage I love when Chris was leading in prayer and talking about the unity of heaven and earth, I just thought, well, I'm just going to open one of my favorite passages again. I haven't talked about it for quite a while here. And so we're going to take a few minutes and see how we do. It has nothing to do with the ministry time, except it has everything to do with the ministry time. That's just the way it works. All right, you guys ready? we're going to begin with verse 12 i even i am he who comforts you who are you that you should be afraid here perhaps you didn't hear the first half of this verse this is stunning God says, I, even I, am he who comforts you.

14:22 Who are you that you should be afraid? I, even I, am he who comforts you. Who are you that you should be afraid? who are you that you should be afraid of a man who will die of the son of man who will be made like grass there goes the fear of man right out the window so you got to learn to read with your heart learn to read with your friend christ jesus and these things become flesh in you they're not dependent upon you trying hard they're dependent upon us surrendering yielding to the one who speaks and this is what he's saying once I've revealed my nature to you you've lost the right to fear You can still go to it, but you have to leave the umbrella of the revelation of his nature.

15:45 You step outside of it, you can still choose it. But there's a place of safety. It's in the understanding of who he is. verse 13 you forget the Lord your maker who stretched out the heaven laid the foundations of the earth you feared continually what happened in the story of Gideon it's a long story I'm going to give you just a tiny tiny snippet when the Lord was preparing to call Gideon into service, there's this passage of scripture where a prophet is raised up, a prophet without a name, no name prophet, who prophesied to Israel. And the Lord spoke through this prophet to Israel and said, I told you not to fear the gods of the Amorites, the Midianites, but you didn't obey.

16:38 Okay, what does this look like? Whenever Israel, let me back up. The backslidings of Israel happened, they became manifest by them worshiping false gods. when Israel would become complacent, cold in heart, distant in their passion with God, they eventually over time would end up worshiping idols, false gods. Are you with me? Where did that journey to worship false gods start? It started with them fearing false gods because you'll worship what you fear. That's why if you fear going broke, you will hold to money and despise people who talk about money in church. That's what Jesus said. You'll love the one, it's him, hate the other, or you will hold to the one and despise. Where does it come from?

17:35 It all comes out of fear. Every value, every plan, every decision comes either out of place of love or a place of fear. Those are the two sources that our decisions, our thoughts, our ambitions come from. There are many people that fear the power that exists in certain cults. There are many believers who fear certain diseases and mention them with reverence. what you fear will influence what you worship and how you worship is in their face because he's bringing them to their destiny.

18:44 We're not going to read every passage, but I just want you to see he's wanting to bring them out of fear because since he revealed his nature to them, his presence to them, fear becomes totally unreasonable. Fear is anti-intellectual. this feels good to say now we're going to jump down to the conclusion because i said i was going to talk short verse 16 I've put my words in your mouth I've covered you with the shadow of my hand that I may plant the heavens lay the foundations on the earth and say to Zion you are my people look through this verse I've put my words in your mouth Jesus illustrated this by saying my words become spirit and that spirit gives life words are more than concepts put in phrases they are spiritual realities that are released into the atmosphere when we say what the Father is saying and God is saying here I have taken my words and I have put them in your mouth and then what's next?

20:16 I cover you with my hand. Why? Because you need his protection with that dangerous of a tool. If you have that much power and authority to establish something in the earth that is eternally transformational, then you need safety. So he says, all right, here is history changing words. Now, relax. who are you that you should be afraid? I'm going to put my hand over you. I'll protect you. And then what does he say? I'm going to plant the heavens. Now I realize some of your translations say set or establish. That word is in the Old Testament 58 times. 55 of those times is planting. I'm going to fight for the word plant.

21:21 Because it's different than established. It's different than set. It means, it implies there's roots. The plant becomes one with the earth. And what is he planting? It's an open book test. What is he planting?

21:44 What does it say? What is he planting? The heavens. He's planting the heavens. laying foundations in the earth. I'm building foundations to hold the weight of what I'm about to plant. this is the Old Testament equivalent of let your kingdom come let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven and then the last phrase he says and say to Zion you are my people there's something that the Lord is doing in the earth where he is enabling you to be a part of the unfolding plan and purposes of God in the earth to redeem situations to heal broken situations to redeem broken lives to be a part of that reality to see it affect an infect more than just the healing of a body, but the healing of a family and the healing of a family line and the healing of a city and the healing of a nation and the purpose of that nation. And here he says, I've put my words in your mouth. And if I can embellish, it was with my words I created the heavens and the earth. And I'm putting those words in your mouth. And I'm going to protect you because I've given you a valuable tool. And then I want you to understand what I'm doing, that you're going to come into a co-laboring role in. I am planting my world on the foundations I'm building in yours. And this process will be used to reveal who belongs to me.

23:45 Amen. Amen. That was it. All right. I want you to put your hand just on your heart briefly, which we do half a dozen times a day. I want you to say this with me.

24:16 I have lost the right to the fear of man. It was way overrated anyway. I'm a child of God. He's put his words in my mouth. His words are a priceless treasure.

24:48 His words change and transform. His words create and destroy. He put his hand over me to keep me safe in my assignment as a transformational influence in the earth. as a transformational influence of the earth.

25:21 And I see his heart to plant his world in mine. And I say yes. And I say yes. Yes, yes, yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. Yes. Amen. All right. I feel better now. I hope that you do. Now, every response we have in life is either out of love or it's out of fear. Love or fear is the source of our words, our responses, our directives in life, the things that we pursue, the things we choose not to pursue. It's either because of love or it's because of fear. In some way, one of those two realms have influenced how we think and see. So when Jesus talks to his disciples, they're now in fear mode because they don't have enough food for lunch.

26:19 Jesus asked the question. In the New King James, it says, why do you reason that you have no bread? New American Standard, why do you discuss that you have no bread? That word, reason or discuss, comes from the root word that's found here in this passage in 2 Corinthians. Imaginations, speculations, high things that have been raised up against the knowledge of God. So here he's saying, why is your reasoning at war with my world? You are considering and dwelling on a reality that violates how I live, how I think, and what I've assigned you to do with your life. Amen, Bill. That was a very good point. All right.

27:07 So Jesus is challenging their thinking. When you first get saved, the first thing we start dealing with is what we think about. If we find ourselves thinking with hatred or with greed or lust or envy or whatever it might be, those things get exposed to us. But after a while, we start finding out God is not just interested in the individual thoughts. He's interested in the process of thinking, the way we think, the way we view things around us. The disciples are in a boat with no more than one loaf of bread. They don't have enough food for lunch. They go into fear mode. Jesus says, why do you reason that you have no bread? And then he reminded them they were with him when he multiplied food for thousands and thousands of people twice. Why do you reason that you have no bread? why does your imagination start with what you don't have how many of you have been in a financial crisis before how many of you have had god do a miracle and provide for you how many of you after that financial crisis you had another one even though god answered the first one how many of you were as nervous the second time as you were the first time all right that's the point. That's his question. Why do you reason? Why didn't you change the way you think because you saw my nature? See, we tend to think that the miracles of God are temporary interventions.

28:38 Instead, they are revelations of nature, the nature of a God who makes covenant with his children. Now, there are always two trees in the garden. There's always one you eat from, and there's always one you don't eat from. And the reason is because of the nature of God. It's not punishment. He just sets us up to be rewarded.

29:00 If there's not two trees, one good, one bad, in your garden of life, then you can't be rewarded for making the right choice. And if you have no choice, no options, we can't say you have a free will. one of the most priceless creations of god is when he gave humanity free will and he he lives and dies if you will to protect that mountain to protect the reality of free will given to people and so he places two trees in the garden so that you have a choice so how many of you um you were challenged financially at some time in your life we'll use money as a good example here it could have been an offerings could have been helping the poor could have been caring for a neighbor that was in crisis. It could be any of those things. So mission support, somebody on the other side of the planet, and you took a risk. You took that risk. You gave some money and God quickly returned it to you, and you were stunned at how fast he did a miracle financially in your life. How many of you, you've had that happen? All right, all right. How many of you, after that happened, you took another risk, and the answer wasn't as quick the second time?

30:06 is that is that right or what i mean i i see it all my life especially with new believers they come in they can they can take any risk they want and it's like bang the answer is there you know it's like they could give their last hundred dollars and they walk out of the room and find a thousand on the ground it's just like the lord is so quick to answer these folks what is he doing he's revealing his nature he's not just revealing an act of god and part of the problem with Israel's failure and Moses' maturity is found in this phrase. Israel was acquainted with the acts of God. Moses was acquainted with his ways. Moses took the acts of God and discovered his nature to make covenant with that God. That's why he was stable during the shifting seasons, and Israel was not. so that first answer to prayer, you take the risk, you give the hundred dollars to your neighbor that's in crisis, and you know, a week later, he returns to you 10 times over, and you just are so thankful, you come running to your friends to tell the testimony, a month later, you do the same, and it's two weeks, three weeks, four weeks, five weeks go by, and you wonder, where is this God who made covenant with you to always care for you? What is he doing? He just put a second tree in your garden? Are you going to let the absence of an immediate breakthrough change your revelation of God's nature? Are you going to allow it to change your perception of who he is?

31:35 Because this is the issue. It is reasoning that is contrary to the knowledge of God. The Bible says these imaginations are high things. They are things that the demonic realm exalts to be in competition with what God knows to be true. So every lie that you and I have ever believed is actually something that comes from the demonic realm that the enemy wants to put in competition to what God knows to be true. Now, how many of you know the devil is no competition for God? It is not God and the devil. It's not like, you know, God is good and the devil is bad and they're opposites. The devil is a created being. He's the opposite of Michael, not God. He's no competition for God.

32:24 As we speak, the Lord himself uses the devil as a chess piece on a game board. It's absolutely true. He has already been defeated. He has no feats. Defeated. Defeated. Sorry. Bad sense of humor. Bad sense of humor. He's already been defeated. The Bible says you'll see him on the last day, and you'll look at him, and you'll say, you're kidding. It was you?

32:52 So what makes the lie that is in competition, if you will, against the knowledge of God, what God knows, what makes it powerful? It's our yes. See, our vote to believe a lie is what makes the lie powerful. because it has no power at all that can compete with the beauty, the wonder, and the power of truth. Let's drink to that. there's an interesting it's an interesting statement made in Matthew 16 and I'll just give you the story the background and you can write the reference down verse 20, 23 in that area and it's the place where Jesus comes to his disciples and he says who do people say I am?

33:55 and the guys are there and they're talking well you know some think you're Elijah some think you're this guy and Jesus finally pops the question he says but who do you think I am and Peter goes you're the Christ you're the son of the living God and Jesus said yeah you know you didn't get that on your own Peter my father showed you that a moment later Jesus is talking about the fact that he's going to die he's going to be crucified it. And Peter stops that conversation right away, because, wow, he's on a roll.

34:31 He stops that, and he starts to correct Jesus. How many of you have discovered, out of your own experience, it's not smart to correct God? He's just kind of an immovable person. He's right, period. And so he corrects Jesus, and Jesus changes his tune. A moment earlier, flesh and blood did not reveal that to you. That came to you from my Heavenly Father. The next moment he looks at Peter and he says, get behind me, Satan.

34:57 Because your mind is not set on the interests of God. Your mind is set on the interests of man. So here's this crazy picture. Peter is rebuked by Jesus. And Jesus says, get behind me, Satan. Because your mind is not set on the things of God. your mind is fixed on the things of man. Get behind me, Satan, your mind is fixed on the things of man. Humanity without Christ at the center is demonic in nature. Try this side.

35:41 Humanity without Christ at the center is demonic in nature. Jesus truly is the center of everything. In him, all things consist. Everything was made by him and for him. He is the absolute center of everything. when you move Jesus out of the picture, you end up with something that's a good try. But it can never become what God intended. And so here Jesus rebukes Peter, says, get behind me. Why? Because your mind has been set on the interests of man without Christ at the center. Your interests are not set on God. What's the point? Well, there's something that I've heard refer to as practical atheism. I don't think atheism is very practical, but anyway, practical atheism. If I have a financial crisis in my life, and let's say I have a neighbor that's an atheist, and we both have the exact same crisis goes on, and I'm talking to him one day, and he bought this book, and he talked with this banker, and got advice from this financial counselor, and I'm a believer, and I don't open the word to find out direction from Scripture. I don't pray. I don't do any of the things that the Bible would direct me to do. But instead, I follow the exact same tools that my atheist neighbor would follow, which may even be decent tools. The problem is what is missing from my life is seeking the heart of God, the mind of God over my circumstance. So let's say that I ignore all the things that I would normally do as a believer, and I do what my atheist neighbor would do. What is the outcome? That's practical atheism. Even though I believe in the existence of God, he wasn't brought into the center of my situation. And while I can on the outside say, yes, I'm born again. Yes, I'm going to spend eternity with God. In that particular part of my life, I am practicing atheism because Jesus is not at the center. Get behind me, Satan. Your mind is set on the interests of man without Christ at the center.

37:49 the apostle Paul in in the book of Ephesians chapter 4 uses this phrase there are many people who have mistakenly believed that if you're a Christian you can't have a problem with a demon that's not the subject that I have for you this morning but the apostle Paul taught to a very mature church he said don't give place It's still the devil. about three verses before that phrase, don't give place to the devil, is the exhortation to be renewed in the spirit of your mind. inconsistent thoughts thoughts that violate the purposes of God over our life they are like the blocks in a wall and the enemy doesn't inhabit a thought in the same way he inhabits a pattern of thinking a pattern of thinking that wars against the purposes of God actually create a realm of safety for him to hide in and dwell in and to attack from this whole issue that I have had in my heart to talk to you about today is not devil focused at all in fact you know that whenever we teach on this subject we never make it about chasing the devil he's not worthy of my attention only long enough to get the crosshairs on him and pull the trigger is not worthy of our discussion, our infatuation.

39:35 I have zero interest. But when it gets in the way, when there's a problem that has been created because I've given myself to believe something that is in violation to what God knows to be true, then I must repent and deal with that pattern of thought. I mean, you know, it's one thing to just confess the sin. It's another to change the way you think. about that subject. It's the reason the word repentance doesn't mean cry at the altar, even though that may be a legitimate expression. The word repentance means to change the way you think. So to truly repent about something that he deals with me on means that that sorrow for sin has to be deep enough that it changes my perspective on what's true and what's a lie. There's an unusual connection, kind of a seamless connection between three subjects in Scripture. Fear, worship, and trust. Fear, worship, and trust. What you fear will influence what you worship.

40:44 And what you worship will be proven by what you trust. worship isn't merely an act of song kneeling raising hands or whatever it is actually something it's kind of like two-part epoxy it's the second part that proves and establishes what real worship is in our heart of hearts and that is trust god is continuously looking for trust in his people because our trust mirrors who he is the most reliable thing in existence is god himself He's more trustworthy than the sun rising tomorrow morning. That could end. That's temporal.

41:24 That could end, but he cannot. He cannot change. He's perfectly faithful. So our entire life is learning this expression and learning this lifestyle of absolute trust in God. Delayed answers seem to dial up all kinds of stuff in us on where we actually mistrust God. and it's never punishment. It's never for humiliation. It's always to expose where I have need to fully confess of weakness because when I confess in agreement with God, I step into a grace where I can forsake something that has perhaps plagued my life for my entire life. God is looking for people who trust him. The Bible says that he looks for worshipers. interestingly he doesn't look for worship he's not an egotist in need of affirmation he looks for worshipers because we always become like whatever we worship we'll see this more illustrated in a moment but you always become like whatever you worship and whatever you worship will determine what you trust I can sing the right songs down here on Sunday morning raise my hands sing loudly, give the shout of praise. But if when I face a difficulty, I turn to something other than God, then my trust area is being challenged. It doesn't mean that I can't use counsel. It means it all has to be in accordance to what God says and what he thinks and what he has purposed for my life.

42:59 people say well we're entitled to our own opinion well you can have yours i don't want mine it's only gotten me in trouble i don't want to have thoughts or values that are inconsistent with his thoughts and values i want to think creatively within the confines of his lordship because there's more liberty in the lordship than there is liberty outside doing what i want it's crazy but there's more room in the house than there is out of the house it's the logic of a kingdom where you go low to go high where you empty yourself to be full yes indeed all right so here we have the two absolutes of scripture once again there's faith hope and love the greatest of these is love and the second is we cannot do anything to please him apart from faith love and there's faith Paul in Galatians talked about these two subjects as though they were one.

44:04 I look at them as two sides of the same coin, where he says faith works through love. One is the expression of the other reality, the other influence. And so the Lord from day one has been working to build a community of trust, a community of faith, because that best represents who he is in the earth, and it best connects us to who he is in the earth. So we've got this passage in the book of Judges, chapter 6, in verse 10. The Lord speaks and he says, I said to you, I am the Lord your God. Do not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell, but you have not obeyed my voice. Interesting verse. Look at it again. I said to you, do not fear the gods of the Amorites, but you have not obeyed. what did Israel do when they feared other gods? They would always worship other gods and turn to those gods in difficulty. For example, Baal was considered the god of abundance.

45:10 And so Israel, if things were shaky in their relationship with God, if things weren't going correctly, they would turn to Baal and they would worship this false god. Strangely, throughout history, there were times they would try to worship God on the Sabbath day and on other days or other experiences, they would turn to another God. They tried to have this dual devotion to multiple gods plus the real God. It was always a point of downfall for Israel. It was always a point of disintegration of who they were and their identity. And so the Lord looked at Israel and he said, I told you not to fear the other gods, but you didn't obey. What was the evidence? They worshiped other gods. The point is what you fear determines what you worship. That's the point. Look at Psalms 115. Psalms 115. Honey, could you, I've got a bottle of water down there. I forgot to bring it up. It's somewhere. Oh, there it is. Thanks. Thank you. Psalms 115. I love this Psalm.

46:12 I remember in the early days when we'd have so many unusual things happen in a gathering. and people's, it seems like people's favorite question is, well, where is that in the Bible? I'd tell them Psalms 115 because verse three says he does whatever he pleases. Where is that in the Bible?

46:36 The Bible is not a book of lists. or let me let me put it a better way the lists in the bible don't confine god they reveal him The nine gifts of the Spirit don't limit God. They reveal how he works. A couple of my family members, when they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, wrote in perfect Chinese. well that's the devil yeah except it was all praise to god when it was translated by a chinese missionary the devil's not knowing for worshiping jesus well it's not on the list yeah but it's consistent with the list It's consistent with the list. Why? Because those who speak in an unknown tongue speak to God, not to men. And it says in Acts 2 verse 11 says, they are speaking of the mighty deeds of God in these other languages, which is what? Praise.

47:38 That prayer language, we'd call it the secret language with our children. That secret language is a language of prayer, intercession, and a language of worship, of praise. so the list that exists in the Bible are not to restrict or confine God they are lists that reveal God so chapter Psalms 115 verse 3 says but our God is in heaven he does whatever he pleases that's like my favorite verse he does whatever he pleases verse 4 their idols are silver and gold the work of men's hands they have mouths but they do not speak. Eyes they have, but they do not see. They have ears, but they do not hear. Noses they have, but they do not smell. They have hands, but they do not handle. Feet they have, but they do not walk. Nor do they mutter through their throats. Those who make them are like them. So is everyone who trusts in them. What you fear determines what you trust. What you trust is what you become like.

48:44 In this case, it's a strange story of molded images. It may be out of stone. It could be out of wood or rock. But the point was is they would worship these idols. And we don't have that type of thing today. But the Apostle Paul said that greed is idolatry. Greed is the worship of other gods.

49:04 Strangely, you'll see greed, you'll see idolatry warned against and adultery in the same phrase throughout the Bible. those two because idolatry is in the spirit realm what adultery and immorality is in the natural physical realm they are they are the same sin expressed in two different realities greed then is idolatry according to scripture the worshiping of other gods what i fear affects what i worship what i worship affects what i trust if i fear going broke i will turn my heart of affection towards money and obtaining to try to create a security for myself. I may sing the right songs in the morning. I may raise my hands, even dance.

50:01 But if the heart is anchored in the affection for things other than God, then what happens is it actually defiles my trust. My authentic worship is exposed when a difficulty comes because that's when you discover what and who I trust. Jesus when he talked about this subject of God and mammon he said in the gospel of Matthew he says you can't serve two gods you can't serve God and mammon and in that passage he actually spoke of mammon as though it was a spiritual being he wasn't talking about dollars in the pocket he was talking about a principality that actually has influence over the economies of the world. He says you can't serve God and mammon. And when he went to illustrate that, he said, you will either love the one and hate the other.

51:02 or you will hold to the one and despise the other. Love, hate, hold, despise. Love, hate. Your love for God is actually, in many ways, revealed by what you hate. You can't hate people. It's just stupid. But we've got to hate evil. This whole thing of having no emotion where we become like Spock unmoved by circumstances around us that is not kingdom peace.

51:37 That is some eastern religion but it's not kingdom. And that kind of peace only exists where that person is in charge. It's never where there's chaos. so Jesus said you either love the one hate the other which I remember when my kids were small when they finally had permission to hate something I remember Brian walking around the house and I hate the devil I hate the devil he was he had been freed to hate once again because we all told Ken hates on you can't say I hate this I hate that we told him he could hate the devil and I remember Eric and Brian, Leah walking around the house going, I hate the devil. I hate the devil. And they just had a whole new liberty in life. So anyway, it says you can love the one and hate the other. When you're devoted to God, your love for God will be seen in what you hate. But when mammon is what I serve, it says, I will hold to the one and despise anytime money is talked about in church.

52:42 the very fact that I become aggravated over a subject of that nature being brought up in church only reveals that there is a measure of trust in worship that is misdirected. Proverbs 3 is the verse I honestly have been looking forward to talking to you about. Oh, I forgot. I forgot a key verse here in Psalms 115. Sorry about that. Verse 8 says, Those who make them are like them, so is everyone who trusts in the Lord. The very next phrase, O Israel, trust the Lord. what is the implication? The implication is that those who worship false idols become like the idols they worship. They make an idol that's blind, they lose their ability to perceive.

53:41 They make an idol that can't speak, they lose their voice in the world. They make an idol that can't touch, they lose their own sensitivities, their own perception. They make an idol that can't hear. They lose track of the voice of God in their life because we become like whatever it is that we trust. And so at this point, God steps into the middle of the equation. He says, all right, now Israel, trust the Lord. Why? Because you become hearing, perceiving, sensitive to touch. You become like him in your capacity and ability to live life. Trust is what opens up the supernatural grace, the ability to live like Jesus.