< Return to Video

Overcoming Fear (Q&A) - Mack, Charles, Tim, Kevin, Bob

  • 0:01 - 0:03
    In Revelation, it talks about
  • 0:03 - 0:07
    the effeminate, the ungodly, the fearful
  • 0:07 - 0:10
    won't inherit the Kingdom of God,
  • 0:10 - 0:12
    and hopefully this isn't inappropriate,
  • 0:12 - 0:15
    but I have this fear of
    riding roller coasters,
  • 0:15 - 0:17
    and some summers, my wife's family,
  • 0:17 - 0:20
    they like to go ride roller coasters
  • 0:20 - 0:22
    and I feel like sometimes I get convincted
  • 0:22 - 0:26
    because I'm scared to ride them,
  • 0:26 - 0:28
    and I won't ride them,
  • 0:28 - 0:30
    and so I guess my question is,
  • 0:30 - 0:32
    one, is this the kind of fearfulness
  • 0:32 - 0:36
    that the Scripture is talking about?
  • 0:36 - 0:39
    Because, for instance, I think sometimes
  • 0:39 - 0:42
    I want to be an example to my
  • 0:42 - 0:45
    younger nephews and other people,
  • 0:45 - 0:47
    and they see me scared and I think
  • 0:47 - 0:49
    that it's not a good example of Christ.
  • 0:49 - 0:51
    I guess the question is,
  • 0:51 - 0:53
    do I need to go get on the roller coaster?
  • 0:53 - 0:56
    Or it's something that I've been dealing
  • 0:56 - 0:58
    with for a couple of years now,
  • 0:58 - 1:00
    so do I need to get
    on the roller coaster?
  • 1:00 - 1:02
    Or is that talking about a different kind
  • 1:02 - 1:05
    of fearfulness?
  • 1:08 - 1:11
    I hope it's not saying it's not ok
  • 1:11 - 1:13
    to be scared going on a roller coaster,
  • 1:13 - 1:17
    because I hate those things.
  • 1:24 - 1:26
    Well, wouldn't there be a difference
  • 1:26 - 1:29
    between struggling with fears
  • 1:29 - 1:31
    over specific things
  • 1:31 - 1:34
    and your life being completely dominated
  • 1:34 - 1:36
    by fear - you're in bondage to fear.
  • 1:36 - 1:40
    It dominates everything.
  • 1:40 - 1:43
    You know the fear of man's a snare, etc.
  • 1:43 - 1:45
    So, the fearful that Revelation would
  • 1:45 - 1:46
    be talking about,
  • 1:46 - 1:49
    that won't inherit the Kingdom,
  • 1:49 - 1:51
    that's a characteristic of their life
  • 1:51 - 1:52
    that dominates them just like
  • 1:52 - 1:55
    the adulterous, the drunkard,
  • 1:55 - 1:57
    the unbelieving...
  • 1:57 - 2:05
    where fear rules a person's life.
  • 2:05 - 2:07
    You have the case of Moses.
  • 2:07 - 2:09
    It says that by faith,
  • 2:09 - 2:13
    he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath
  • 2:13 - 2:15
    of the king.
  • 2:15 - 2:16
    For he endured as seeing him
  • 2:16 - 2:18
    who is invisible.
  • 2:18 - 2:20
    So, it says not fearing the wrath
  • 2:20 - 2:22
    of the king.
  • 2:22 - 2:24
    Well, it doesn't mean he didn't
  • 2:24 - 2:28
    feel any fear in the sense of fear.
  • 2:28 - 2:30
    But he pressed past that.
  • 2:30 - 2:32
    He did not let his fear stop him from
  • 2:32 - 2:34
    obeying God.
  • 2:34 - 2:37
    And that's a characteristic of a Christian.
  • 2:37 - 2:40
    He feels all the same fears
  • 2:40 - 2:43
    in many cases as anyone feels,
  • 2:43 - 2:45
    but for the Christian,
  • 2:45 - 2:47
    the desire to obey God,
  • 2:47 - 2:48
    overcomes those things
  • 2:48 - 2:50
    and he presses through.
  • 2:50 - 2:51
    So you might have somebody
  • 2:51 - 2:53
    that's scared to death to speak up,
  • 2:53 - 2:55
    but they press through it
    and they speak up.
  • 2:55 - 2:57
    That's the difference between
  • 2:57 - 3:01
    a Christian and a non-Christian.
  • 3:03 - 3:07
    Yeah, I can remember when
  • 3:07 - 3:09
    I was first saved,
  • 3:09 - 3:12
    the truth is, that as a lost person
  • 3:12 - 3:18
    I was just absolutely wicked,
  • 3:18 - 3:24
    a thief, a liar, my sins were many,
  • 3:24 - 3:27
    and I can remember being convicted
  • 3:27 - 3:29
    that you know what?
  • 3:29 - 3:32
    I need to go back and return
  • 3:32 - 3:34
    and make restitution for all the things
  • 3:34 - 3:37
    that I had stolen,
    things I had vandalized,
  • 3:37 - 3:39
    things I had destroyed.
  • 3:39 - 3:43
    And I basically made a list.
  • 3:43 - 3:46
    And I was utterly terrified.
  • 3:46 - 3:47
    I'd go through my possessions
  • 3:47 - 3:49
    and I'd find something,
  • 3:49 - 3:50
    and I'd look at it and
  • 3:50 - 3:53
    the thought of even having to go back
  • 3:53 - 3:56
    and talk to the people
  • 3:56 - 3:58
    and I made an entire list
  • 3:58 - 4:01
    and absolutely terrified.
  • 4:01 - 4:03
    I can remember the first one
  • 4:03 - 4:05
    on my list, was I bailed out on rent
  • 4:05 - 4:07
    when I was in college and I owed
  • 4:07 - 4:10
    the landlord $300.
  • 4:10 - 4:12
    And I can remember I sat down the street,
  • 4:12 - 4:14
    I'm just new in the Lord,
  • 4:14 - 4:17
    and absolutely terrified.
  • 4:17 - 4:20
    But I knew, I'd come across a text
  • 4:20 - 4:26
    in Ezekiel about
    returning the things stolen.
  • 4:26 - 4:27
    And I just knew it was what the Lord
  • 4:27 - 4:29
    wanted me to do.
  • 4:29 - 4:30
    I just sat in my car and pleaded
  • 4:30 - 4:32
    and I prayed.
  • 4:32 - 4:34
    And I walked up to his house
  • 4:34 - 4:35
    and I knocked on his door.
  • 4:35 - 4:40
    I'll tell you, I actually was
    hoping he was dead.
  • 4:40 - 4:42
    Because it had been several years
  • 4:42 - 4:44
    and he was old.
  • 4:44 - 4:47
    And sure enough, the guy
    comes to the door.
  • 4:47 - 4:49
    And I told him I used to live next door
  • 4:49 - 4:51
    here in your house and I bailed out.
  • 4:51 - 4:53
    And just absolutely terrified.
  • 4:53 - 4:57
    And he said, oh, that's alright.
  • 4:57 - 5:00
    And I had this $300
    and I kind of flashed it
  • 5:00 - 5:03
    after he said that, and he snagged it
  • 5:03 - 5:05
    and he took it.
  • 5:05 - 5:08
    It turned out to not be so hard.
  • 5:08 - 5:10
    But that's it, when you become convinced
  • 5:10 - 5:13
    by the Word, I need to do it.
  • 5:13 - 5:16
    I think that's really
    the heart of boldness, right?
  • 5:16 - 5:19
    It doesn't mean you don't have fear;
  • 5:19 - 5:21
    it just means you press past that,
  • 5:21 - 5:23
    because your fear of the Lord is greater.
  • 5:23 - 5:27
    Your desire to please Him is greater.
  • 5:27 - 5:31
    It reminds me we did some
  • 5:31 - 5:33
    door-to-door witnessing.
  • 5:33 - 5:36
    And there was definite fear there,
  • 5:36 - 5:37
    and there always is.
  • 5:37 - 5:39
    But you push past that fear.
  • 5:39 - 5:41
    Because it was like when we started,
  • 5:41 - 5:43
    I'd be walking up someone's driveway
  • 5:43 - 5:45
    thinking please don't be in.
  • 5:45 - 5:48
    But eventually, out of a love for souls,
  • 5:48 - 5:50
    you knock.
  • 5:50 - 5:52
    And the same when I preach.
  • 5:52 - 5:54
    When you witness to someone,
  • 5:54 - 5:56
    you know sometimes I'll preach to people
  • 5:56 - 5:58
    on a ladder and the next minute
  • 5:58 - 6:02
    I'm getting nervous
    witnessing to a 13 year old.
  • 6:02 - 6:04
    You know because those thoughts come in,
  • 6:04 - 6:08
    but you overcome them.
  • 6:08 - 6:14
    By ladder, you mean a stool?
  • 6:14 - 6:18
    I think we tend to forget just what
  • 6:18 - 6:24
    a courageous thing it is
    to become a Christian.
  • 6:24 - 6:27
    I mean, it is the most courageous thing
  • 6:27 - 6:30
    that anybody can do.
  • 6:30 - 6:33
    And that's why folks
    don't become Christians
  • 6:33 - 6:36
    is cowardice.
  • 6:36 - 6:39
    And it's just a different
    way of saying it,
  • 6:39 - 6:42
    the next word in the list
    there in Revelation 21:8
  • 6:42 - 6:44
    is unbelieving.
  • 6:44 - 6:47
    In a way, the reason people don't become
  • 6:47 - 6:50
    Christians is because they don't believe.
  • 6:50 - 6:52
    But you could put it another way,
  • 6:52 - 6:54
    it's because they are cowards
  • 6:54 - 6:56
    and they are afraid of man,
  • 6:56 - 6:58
    they're afraid.
  • 6:58 - 7:01
    So it is the most courageous thing
  • 7:01 - 7:03
    that anybody can do
  • 7:03 - 7:05
    is become a follower of Christ.
Title:
Overcoming Fear (Q&A) - Mack, Charles, Tim, Kevin, Bob
Video Language:
English
Duration:
07:05

English subtitles

Revisions