1 00:00:00,791 --> 00:00:03,241 In Revelation, it talks about 2 00:00:03,241 --> 00:00:06,755 the effeminate, the ungodly, the fearful 3 00:00:06,755 --> 00:00:09,617 won't inherit the Kingdom of God, 4 00:00:09,617 --> 00:00:12,000 and hopefully this isn't inappropriate, 5 00:00:12,000 --> 00:00:14,575 but I have this fear of riding roller coasters, 6 00:00:14,575 --> 00:00:17,347 and some summers, my wife's family, 7 00:00:17,347 --> 00:00:19,690 they like to go ride roller coasters 8 00:00:19,690 --> 00:00:22,291 and I feel like sometimes I get convincted 9 00:00:22,291 --> 00:00:26,095 because I'm scared to ride them, 10 00:00:26,095 --> 00:00:28,252 and I won't ride them, 11 00:00:28,252 --> 00:00:29,734 and so I guess my question is, 12 00:00:29,734 --> 00:00:31,870 one, is this the kind of fearfulness 13 00:00:31,870 --> 00:00:35,726 that the Scripture is talking about? 14 00:00:35,726 --> 00:00:39,494 Because, for instance, I think sometimes 15 00:00:39,494 --> 00:00:41,871 I want to be an example to my 16 00:00:41,871 --> 00:00:45,373 younger nephews and other people, 17 00:00:45,373 --> 00:00:47,046 and they see me scared and I think 18 00:00:47,046 --> 00:00:49,492 that it's not a good example of Christ. 19 00:00:49,492 --> 00:00:50,781 I guess the question is, 20 00:00:50,781 --> 00:00:53,338 do I need to go get on the roller coaster? 21 00:00:53,338 --> 00:00:55,975 Or it's something that I've been dealing 22 00:00:55,975 --> 00:00:57,512 with for a couple of years now, 23 00:00:57,512 --> 00:00:59,713 so do I need to get on the roller coaster? 24 00:00:59,713 --> 00:01:01,766 Or is that talking about a different kind 25 00:01:01,766 --> 00:01:04,855 of fearfulness? 26 00:01:08,414 --> 00:01:10,899 I hope it's not saying it's not ok 27 00:01:10,899 --> 00:01:12,804 to be scared going on a roller coaster, 28 00:01:12,804 --> 00:01:16,932 because I hate those things. 29 00:01:24,432 --> 00:01:26,183 Well, wouldn't there be a difference 30 00:01:26,183 --> 00:01:28,527 between struggling with fears 31 00:01:28,527 --> 00:01:30,781 over specific things 32 00:01:30,781 --> 00:01:33,879 and your life being completely dominated 33 00:01:33,879 --> 00:01:36,072 by fear - you're in bondage to fear. 34 00:01:36,072 --> 00:01:39,966 It dominates everything. 35 00:01:39,966 --> 00:01:43,092 You know the fear of man's a snare, etc. 36 00:01:43,092 --> 00:01:45,247 So, the fearful that Revelation would 37 00:01:45,247 --> 00:01:46,201 be talking about, 38 00:01:46,201 --> 00:01:48,838 that won't inherit the Kingdom, 39 00:01:48,838 --> 00:01:50,677 that's a characteristic of their life 40 00:01:50,677 --> 00:01:52,163 that dominates them just like 41 00:01:52,163 --> 00:01:54,805 the adulterous, the drunkard, 42 00:01:54,805 --> 00:01:56,774 the unbelieving... 43 00:01:56,774 --> 00:02:04,718 where fear rules a person's life. 44 00:02:04,718 --> 00:02:06,963 You have the case of Moses. 45 00:02:06,963 --> 00:02:09,226 It says that by faith, 46 00:02:09,226 --> 00:02:12,792 he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath 47 00:02:12,792 --> 00:02:14,633 of the king. 48 00:02:14,633 --> 00:02:16,142 For he endured as seeing him 49 00:02:16,142 --> 00:02:17,970 who is invisible. 50 00:02:17,970 --> 00:02:20,117 So, it says not fearing the wrath 51 00:02:20,117 --> 00:02:21,978 of the king. 52 00:02:21,978 --> 00:02:23,657 Well, it doesn't mean he didn't 53 00:02:23,657 --> 00:02:28,489 feel any fear in the sense of fear. 54 00:02:28,489 --> 00:02:30,089 But he pressed past that. 55 00:02:30,089 --> 00:02:32,345 He did not let his fear stop him from 56 00:02:32,345 --> 00:02:34,350 obeying God. 57 00:02:34,350 --> 00:02:36,951 And that's a characteristic of a Christian. 58 00:02:36,951 --> 00:02:39,703 He feels all the same fears 59 00:02:39,703 --> 00:02:43,028 in many cases as anyone feels, 60 00:02:43,028 --> 00:02:44,986 but for the Christian, 61 00:02:44,986 --> 00:02:47,254 the desire to obey God, 62 00:02:47,254 --> 00:02:48,307 overcomes those things 63 00:02:48,307 --> 00:02:50,041 and he presses through. 64 00:02:50,041 --> 00:02:51,423 So you might have somebody 65 00:02:51,423 --> 00:02:53,144 that's scared to death to speak up, 66 00:02:53,144 --> 00:02:55,340 but they press through it and they speak up. 67 00:02:55,340 --> 00:02:56,859 That's the difference between 68 00:02:56,859 --> 00:03:00,911 a Christian and a non-Christian. 69 00:03:02,814 --> 00:03:07,260 Yeah, I can remember when 70 00:03:07,260 --> 00:03:09,352 I was first saved, 71 00:03:09,352 --> 00:03:11,654 the truth is, that as a lost person 72 00:03:11,654 --> 00:03:18,267 I was just absolutely wicked, 73 00:03:18,267 --> 00:03:24,108 a thief, a liar, my sins were many, 74 00:03:24,108 --> 00:03:27,041 and I can remember being convicted 75 00:03:27,041 --> 00:03:28,683 that you know what? 76 00:03:28,683 --> 00:03:32,002 I need to go back and return 77 00:03:32,002 --> 00:03:34,246 and make restitution for all the things 78 00:03:34,246 --> 00:03:37,098 that I had stolen, things I had vandalized, 79 00:03:37,098 --> 00:03:39,465 things I had destroyed. 80 00:03:39,465 --> 00:03:43,015 And I basically made a list. 81 00:03:43,015 --> 00:03:45,930 And I was utterly terrified. 82 00:03:45,930 --> 00:03:47,465 I'd go through my possessions 83 00:03:47,465 --> 00:03:48,643 and I'd find something, 84 00:03:48,643 --> 00:03:50,264 and I'd look at it and 85 00:03:50,264 --> 00:03:53,419 the thought of even having to go back 86 00:03:53,419 --> 00:03:55,558 and talk to the people 87 00:03:55,558 --> 00:03:58,297 and I made an entire list 88 00:03:58,297 --> 00:04:01,352 and absolutely terrified. 89 00:04:01,352 --> 00:04:02,819 I can remember the first one 90 00:04:02,819 --> 00:04:05,037 on my list, was I bailed out on rent 91 00:04:05,037 --> 00:04:07,032 when I was in college and I owed 92 00:04:07,032 --> 00:04:09,911 the landlord $300. 93 00:04:09,911 --> 00:04:12,090 And I can remember I sat down the street, 94 00:04:12,090 --> 00:04:13,913 I'm just new in the Lord, 95 00:04:13,913 --> 00:04:16,689 and absolutely terrified. 96 00:04:16,689 --> 00:04:20,419 But I knew, I'd come across a text 97 00:04:20,419 --> 00:04:25,628 in Ezekiel about returning the things stolen. 98 00:04:25,628 --> 00:04:27,444 And I just knew it was what the Lord 99 00:04:27,444 --> 00:04:28,607 wanted me to do. 100 00:04:28,607 --> 00:04:30,157 I just sat in my car and pleaded 101 00:04:30,157 --> 00:04:32,052 and I prayed. 102 00:04:32,052 --> 00:04:33,719 And I walked up to his house 103 00:04:33,719 --> 00:04:35,172 and I knocked on his door. 104 00:04:35,172 --> 00:04:39,548 I'll tell you, I actually was hoping he was dead. 105 00:04:39,548 --> 00:04:42,202 Because it had been several years 106 00:04:42,202 --> 00:04:43,654 and he was old. 107 00:04:43,654 --> 00:04:46,604 And sure enough, the guy comes to the door. 108 00:04:46,604 --> 00:04:48,713 And I told him I used to live next door 109 00:04:48,713 --> 00:04:50,780 here in your house and I bailed out. 110 00:04:50,780 --> 00:04:53,465 And just absolutely terrified. 111 00:04:53,465 --> 00:04:56,847 And he said, oh, that's alright. 112 00:04:56,847 --> 00:04:59,894 And I had this $300 and I kind of flashed it 113 00:04:59,894 --> 00:05:02,757 after he said that, and he snagged it 114 00:05:02,757 --> 00:05:05,314 and he took it. 115 00:05:05,314 --> 00:05:07,813 It turned out to not be so hard. 116 00:05:07,813 --> 00:05:10,305 But that's it, when you become convinced 117 00:05:10,305 --> 00:05:13,084 by the Word, I need to do it. 118 00:05:13,084 --> 00:05:16,065 I think that's really the heart of boldness, right? 119 00:05:16,065 --> 00:05:18,850 It doesn't mean you don't have fear; 120 00:05:18,850 --> 00:05:20,806 it just means you press past that, 121 00:05:20,806 --> 00:05:22,837 because your fear of the Lord is greater. 122 00:05:22,837 --> 00:05:27,344 Your desire to please Him is greater. 123 00:05:27,344 --> 00:05:31,212 It reminds me we did some 124 00:05:31,212 --> 00:05:32,837 door-to-door witnessing. 125 00:05:32,837 --> 00:05:35,719 And there was definite fear there, 126 00:05:35,719 --> 00:05:37,362 and there always is. 127 00:05:37,362 --> 00:05:39,400 But you push past that fear. 128 00:05:39,400 --> 00:05:41,214 Because it was like when we started, 129 00:05:41,214 --> 00:05:43,042 I'd be walking up someone's driveway 130 00:05:43,042 --> 00:05:45,252 thinking please don't be in. 131 00:05:45,252 --> 00:05:48,248 But eventually, out of a love for souls, 132 00:05:48,248 --> 00:05:49,700 you knock. 133 00:05:49,700 --> 00:05:52,108 And the same when I preach. 134 00:05:52,108 --> 00:05:53,693 When you witness to someone, 135 00:05:53,693 --> 00:05:55,628 you know sometimes I'll preach to people 136 00:05:55,628 --> 00:05:57,610 on a ladder and the next minute 137 00:05:57,610 --> 00:06:02,252 I'm getting nervous witnessing to a 13 year old. 138 00:06:02,252 --> 00:06:04,337 You know because those thoughts come in, 139 00:06:04,337 --> 00:06:07,540 but you overcome them. 140 00:06:07,540 --> 00:06:14,258 By ladder, you mean a stool? 141 00:06:14,258 --> 00:06:18,347 I think we tend to forget just what 142 00:06:18,347 --> 00:06:23,974 a courageous thing it is to become a Christian. 143 00:06:23,974 --> 00:06:27,499 I mean, it is the most courageous thing 144 00:06:27,499 --> 00:06:29,905 that anybody can do. 145 00:06:29,905 --> 00:06:32,909 And that's why folks don't become Christians 146 00:06:32,909 --> 00:06:36,009 is cowardice. 147 00:06:36,009 --> 00:06:39,031 And it's just a different way of saying it, 148 00:06:39,031 --> 00:06:42,467 the next word in the list there in Revelation 21:8 149 00:06:42,467 --> 00:06:44,266 is unbelieving. 150 00:06:44,266 --> 00:06:47,253 In a way, the reason people don't become 151 00:06:47,253 --> 00:06:49,623 Christians is because they don't believe. 152 00:06:49,623 --> 00:06:51,503 But you could put it another way, 153 00:06:51,503 --> 00:06:53,645 it's because they are cowards 154 00:06:53,645 --> 00:06:55,794 and they are afraid of man, 155 00:06:55,794 --> 00:06:58,058 they're afraid. 156 00:06:58,058 --> 00:07:00,782 So it is the most courageous thing 157 00:07:00,782 --> 00:07:02,809 that anybody can do 158 00:07:02,809 --> 00:07:04,988 is become a follower of Christ.