In Revelation, it talks about
the effeminate, the ungodly, the fearful
won't inherit the Kingdom of God,
and hopefully this isn't inappropriate,
but I have this fear of riding roller coasters,
and some summers, my wife's family,
they like to go ride roller coasters
and I feel like sometimes I get convincted
because I'm scared to ride them,
and I won't ride them,
and so I guess my question is,
one, is this the kind of fearfulness
that the Scripture is talking about?
Because, for instance, I think sometimes
I want to be an example to my
younger nephews and other people,
and they see me scared and I think
that it's not a good example of Christ.
I guess the question is,
do I need to go get on the roller coaster?
Or it's something that I've been dealing
with for a couple of years now,
so do I need to get on the roller coaster?
Or is that talking about a different kind
of fearfulness?
I hope it's not saying it's not ok
to be scared going on a roller coaster,
because I hate those things.
Well, wouldn't there be a difference
between struggling with fears
over specific things
and your life being completely dominated
by fear - you're in bondage to fear.
It dominates everything.
You know the fear of man's a snare, etc.
So, the fearful that Revelation would
be talking about,
that won't inherit the Kingdom,
that's a characteristic of their life
that dominates them just like
the adulterous, the drunkard,
the unbelieving...
where fear rules a person's life.
You have the case of Moses.
It says that by faith,
he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath
of the king.
For he endured as seeing him
who is invisible.
So, it says not fearing the wrath
of the king.
Well, it doesn't mean he didn't
feel any fear in the sense of fear.
But he pressed past that.
He did not let his fear stop him from
obeying God.
And that's a characteristic of a Christian.
He feels all the same fears
in many cases as anyone feels,
but for the Christian,
the desire to obey God,
overcomes those things
and he presses through.
So you might have somebody
that's scared to death to speak up,
but they press through it and they speak up.
That's the difference between
a Christian and a non-Christian.
Yeah, I can remember when
I was first saved,
the truth is, that as a lost person
I was just absolutely wicked,
a thief, a liar, my sins were many,
and I can remember being convicted
that you know what?
I need to go back and return
and make restitution for all the things
that I had stolen, things I had vandalized,
things I had destroyed.
And I basically made a list.
And I was utterly terrified.
I'd go through my possessions
and I'd find something,
and I'd look at it and
the thought of even having to go back
and talk to the people
and I made an entire list
and absolutely terrified.
I can remember the first one
on my list, was I bailed out on rent
when I was in college and I owed
the landlord $300.
And I can remember I sat down the street,
I'm just new in the Lord,
and absolutely terrified.
But I knew, I'd come across a text
in Ezekiel about returning the things stolen.
And I just knew it was what the Lord
wanted me to do.
I just sat in my car and pleaded
and I prayed.
And I walked up to his house
and I knocked on his door.
I'll tell you, I actually was hoping he was dead.
Because it had been several years
and he was old.
And sure enough, the guy comes to the door.
And I told him I used to live next door
here in your house and I bailed out.
And just absolutely terrified.
And he said, oh, that's alright.
And I had this $300 and I kind of flashed it
after he said that, and he snagged it
and he took it.
It turned out to not be so hard.
But that's it, when you become convinced
by the Word, I need to do it.
I think that's really the heart of boldness, right?
It doesn't mean you don't have fear;
it just means you press past that,
because your fear of the Lord is greater.
Your desire to please Him is greater.
It reminds me we did some
door-to-door witnessing.
And there was definite fear there,
and there always is.
But you push past that fear.
Because it was like when we started,
I'd be walking up someone's driveway
thinking please don't be in.
But eventually, out of a love for souls,
you knock.
And the same when I preach.
When you witness to someone,
you know sometimes I'll preach to people
on a ladder and the next minute
I'm getting nervous witnessing to a 13 year old.
You know because those thoughts come in,
but you overcome them.
By ladder, you mean a stool?
I think we tend to forget just what
a courageous thing it is to become a Christian.
I mean, it is the most courageous thing
that anybody can do.
And that's why folks don't become Christians
is cowardice.
And it's just a different way of saying it,
the next word in the list there in Revelation 21:8
is unbelieving.
In a way, the reason people don't become
Christians is because they don't believe.
But you could put it another way,
it's because they are cowards
and they are afraid of man,
they're afraid.
So it is the most courageous thing
that anybody can do
is become a follower of Christ.