WEBVTT

00:00:00.791 --> 00:00:03.241
In Revelation, it talks about

00:00:03.241 --> 00:00:06.755
the effeminate, the ungodly, the fearful

00:00:06.755 --> 00:00:09.617
won't inherit the Kingdom of God,

00:00:09.617 --> 00:00:12.000
and hopefully this isn't inappropriate,

00:00:12.000 --> 00:00:14.575
but I have this fear of 
riding roller coasters,

00:00:14.575 --> 00:00:17.347
and some summers, my wife's family,

00:00:17.347 --> 00:00:19.690
they like to go ride roller coasters

00:00:19.690 --> 00:00:22.291
and I feel like sometimes I get convincted

00:00:22.291 --> 00:00:26.095
because I'm scared to ride them,

00:00:26.095 --> 00:00:28.252
and I won't ride them,

00:00:28.252 --> 00:00:29.734
and so I guess my question is,

00:00:29.734 --> 00:00:31.870
one, is this the kind of fearfulness

00:00:31.870 --> 00:00:35.726
that the Scripture is talking about?

00:00:35.726 --> 00:00:39.494
Because, for instance, I think sometimes

00:00:39.494 --> 00:00:41.871
I want to be an example to my

00:00:41.871 --> 00:00:45.373
younger nephews and other people,

00:00:45.373 --> 00:00:47.046
and they see me scared and I think

00:00:47.046 --> 00:00:49.492
that it's not a good example of Christ.

00:00:49.492 --> 00:00:50.781
I guess the question is,

00:00:50.781 --> 00:00:53.338
do I need to go get on the roller coaster?

00:00:53.338 --> 00:00:55.975
Or it's something that I've been dealing

00:00:55.975 --> 00:00:57.512
with for a couple of years now,

00:00:57.512 --> 00:00:59.713
so do I need to get 
on the roller coaster?

00:00:59.713 --> 00:01:01.766
Or is that talking about a different kind

00:01:01.766 --> 00:01:04.855
of fearfulness?

00:01:08.414 --> 00:01:10.899
I hope it's not saying it's not ok

00:01:10.899 --> 00:01:12.804
to be scared going on a roller coaster,

00:01:12.804 --> 00:01:16.932
because I hate those things.

00:01:24.432 --> 00:01:26.183
Well, wouldn't there be a difference

00:01:26.183 --> 00:01:28.527
between struggling with fears

00:01:28.527 --> 00:01:30.781
over specific things

00:01:30.781 --> 00:01:33.879
and your life being completely dominated

00:01:33.879 --> 00:01:36.072
by fear - you're in bondage to fear.

00:01:36.072 --> 00:01:39.966
It dominates everything.

00:01:39.966 --> 00:01:43.092
You know the fear of man's a snare, etc.

00:01:43.092 --> 00:01:45.247
So, the fearful that Revelation would

00:01:45.247 --> 00:01:46.201
be talking about,

00:01:46.201 --> 00:01:48.838
that won't inherit the Kingdom,

00:01:48.838 --> 00:01:50.677
that's a characteristic of their life

00:01:50.677 --> 00:01:52.163
that dominates them just like

00:01:52.163 --> 00:01:54.805
the adulterous, the drunkard,

00:01:54.805 --> 00:01:56.774
the unbelieving...

00:01:56.774 --> 00:02:04.718
where fear rules a person's life.

00:02:04.718 --> 00:02:06.963
You have the case of Moses.

00:02:06.963 --> 00:02:09.226
It says that by faith,

00:02:09.226 --> 00:02:12.792
he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath

00:02:12.792 --> 00:02:14.633
of the king.

00:02:14.633 --> 00:02:16.142
For he endured as seeing him

00:02:16.142 --> 00:02:17.970
who is invisible.

00:02:17.970 --> 00:02:20.117
So, it says not fearing the wrath

00:02:20.117 --> 00:02:21.978
of the king.

00:02:21.978 --> 00:02:23.657
Well, it doesn't mean he didn't

00:02:23.657 --> 00:02:28.489
feel any fear in the sense of fear.

00:02:28.489 --> 00:02:30.089
But he pressed past that.

00:02:30.089 --> 00:02:32.345
He did not let his fear stop him from

00:02:32.345 --> 00:02:34.350
obeying God.

00:02:34.350 --> 00:02:36.951
And that's a characteristic of a Christian.

00:02:36.951 --> 00:02:39.703
He feels all the same fears

00:02:39.703 --> 00:02:43.028
in many cases as anyone feels,

00:02:43.028 --> 00:02:44.986
but for the Christian,

00:02:44.986 --> 00:02:47.254
the desire to obey God,

00:02:47.254 --> 00:02:48.307
overcomes those things

00:02:48.307 --> 00:02:50.041
and he presses through.

00:02:50.041 --> 00:02:51.423
So you might have somebody

00:02:51.423 --> 00:02:53.144
that's scared to death to speak up,

00:02:53.144 --> 00:02:55.340
but they press through it 
and they speak up.

00:02:55.340 --> 00:02:56.859
That's the difference between

00:02:56.859 --> 00:03:00.911
a Christian and a non-Christian.

00:03:02.814 --> 00:03:07.260
Yeah, I can remember when

00:03:07.260 --> 00:03:09.352
I was first saved,

00:03:09.352 --> 00:03:11.654
the truth is, that as a lost person

00:03:11.654 --> 00:03:18.267
I was just absolutely wicked,

00:03:18.267 --> 00:03:24.108
a thief, a liar, my sins were many,

00:03:24.108 --> 00:03:27.041
and I can remember being convicted

00:03:27.041 --> 00:03:28.683
that you know what?

00:03:28.683 --> 00:03:32.002
I need to go back and return

00:03:32.002 --> 00:03:34.246
and make restitution for all the things

00:03:34.246 --> 00:03:37.098
that I had stolen, 
things I had vandalized,

00:03:37.098 --> 00:03:39.465
things I had destroyed.

00:03:39.465 --> 00:03:43.015
And I basically made a list.

00:03:43.015 --> 00:03:45.930
And I was utterly terrified.

00:03:45.930 --> 00:03:47.465
I'd go through my possessions

00:03:47.465 --> 00:03:48.643
and I'd find something,

00:03:48.643 --> 00:03:50.264
and I'd look at it and

00:03:50.264 --> 00:03:53.419
the thought of even having to go back

00:03:53.419 --> 00:03:55.558
and talk to the people

00:03:55.558 --> 00:03:58.297
and I made an entire list

00:03:58.297 --> 00:04:01.352
and absolutely terrified.

00:04:01.352 --> 00:04:02.819
I can remember the first one

00:04:02.819 --> 00:04:05.037
on my list, was I bailed out on rent

00:04:05.037 --> 00:04:07.032
when I was in college and I owed

00:04:07.032 --> 00:04:09.911
the landlord $300.

00:04:09.911 --> 00:04:12.090
And I can remember I sat down the street,

00:04:12.090 --> 00:04:13.913
I'm just new in the Lord,

00:04:13.913 --> 00:04:16.689
and absolutely terrified.

00:04:16.689 --> 00:04:20.419
But I knew, I'd come across a text

00:04:20.419 --> 00:04:25.628
in Ezekiel about 
returning the things stolen.

00:04:25.628 --> 00:04:27.444
And I just knew it was what the Lord

00:04:27.444 --> 00:04:28.607
wanted me to do.

00:04:28.607 --> 00:04:30.157
I just sat in my car and pleaded

00:04:30.157 --> 00:04:32.052
and I prayed.

00:04:32.052 --> 00:04:33.719
And I walked up to his house

00:04:33.719 --> 00:04:35.172
and I knocked on his door.

00:04:35.172 --> 00:04:39.548
I'll tell you, I actually was 
hoping he was dead.

00:04:39.548 --> 00:04:42.202
Because it had been several years

00:04:42.202 --> 00:04:43.654
and he was old.

00:04:43.654 --> 00:04:46.604
And sure enough, the guy 
comes to the door.

00:04:46.604 --> 00:04:48.713
And I told him I used to live next door

00:04:48.713 --> 00:04:50.780
here in your house and I bailed out.

00:04:50.780 --> 00:04:53.465
And just absolutely terrified.

00:04:53.465 --> 00:04:56.847
And he said, oh, that's alright.

00:04:56.847 --> 00:04:59.894
And I had this $300 
and I kind of flashed it

00:04:59.894 --> 00:05:02.757
after he said that, and he snagged it

00:05:02.757 --> 00:05:05.314
and he took it.

00:05:05.314 --> 00:05:07.813
It turned out to not be so hard.

00:05:07.813 --> 00:05:10.305
But that's it, when you become convinced

00:05:10.305 --> 00:05:13.084
by the Word, I need to do it.

00:05:13.084 --> 00:05:16.065
I think that's really 
the heart of boldness, right?

00:05:16.065 --> 00:05:18.850
It doesn't mean you don't have fear;

00:05:18.850 --> 00:05:20.806
it just means you press past that,

00:05:20.806 --> 00:05:22.837
because your fear of the Lord is greater.

00:05:22.837 --> 00:05:27.344
Your desire to please Him is greater.

00:05:27.344 --> 00:05:31.212
It reminds me we did some

00:05:31.212 --> 00:05:32.837
door-to-door witnessing.

00:05:32.837 --> 00:05:35.719
And there was definite fear there,

00:05:35.719 --> 00:05:37.362
and there always is.

00:05:37.362 --> 00:05:39.400
But you push past that fear.

00:05:39.400 --> 00:05:41.214
Because it was like when we started,

00:05:41.214 --> 00:05:43.042
I'd be walking up someone's driveway

00:05:43.042 --> 00:05:45.252
thinking please don't be in.

00:05:45.252 --> 00:05:48.248
But eventually, out of a love for souls,

00:05:48.248 --> 00:05:49.700
you knock.

00:05:49.700 --> 00:05:52.108
And the same when I preach.

00:05:52.108 --> 00:05:53.693
When you witness to someone,

00:05:53.693 --> 00:05:55.628
you know sometimes I'll preach to people

00:05:55.628 --> 00:05:57.610
on a ladder and the next minute

00:05:57.610 --> 00:06:02.252
I'm getting nervous 
witnessing to a 13 year old.

00:06:02.252 --> 00:06:04.337
You know because those thoughts come in,

00:06:04.337 --> 00:06:07.540
but you overcome them.

00:06:07.540 --> 00:06:14.258
By ladder, you mean a stool?

00:06:14.258 --> 00:06:18.347
I think we tend to forget just what

00:06:18.347 --> 00:06:23.974
a courageous thing it is 
to become a Christian.

00:06:23.974 --> 00:06:27.499
I mean, it is the most courageous thing

00:06:27.499 --> 00:06:29.905
that anybody can do.

00:06:29.905 --> 00:06:32.909
And that's why folks 
don't become Christians

00:06:32.909 --> 00:06:36.009
is cowardice.

00:06:36.009 --> 00:06:39.031
And it's just a different 
way of saying it,

00:06:39.031 --> 00:06:42.467
the next word in the list 
there in Revelation 21:8

00:06:42.467 --> 00:06:44.266
is unbelieving.

00:06:44.266 --> 00:06:47.253
In a way, the reason people don't become

00:06:47.253 --> 00:06:49.623
Christians is because they don't believe.

00:06:49.623 --> 00:06:51.503
But you could put it another way,

00:06:51.503 --> 00:06:53.645
it's because they are cowards

00:06:53.645 --> 00:06:55.794
and they are afraid of man,

00:06:55.794 --> 00:06:58.058
they're afraid.

00:06:58.058 --> 00:07:00.782
So it is the most courageous thing

00:07:00.782 --> 00:07:02.809
that anybody can do

00:07:02.809 --> 00:07:04.988
is become a follower of Christ.