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