Let's start this morning to open your Bibles to Psalms chapter 111 verse 10. It's not the reference per se, just the beginning of the scriptures that we'll read in reference to what we're talking about this morning. I have, as usual, there's so much that I want to say this morning to pack into 30 minutes or 40 minutes, whatever we get here. So I'm really going to try to stick to my notes. But let me say this first. There's something that I have observed growing up in church, OK? And it's funny. Everybody says that. I grew up in church. When did you start paying attention, though? Because I know people that have grown up in church that are older than me, and they still ain't started paying attention yet. And when I say paying attention, I ain't talking about just paying attention to what's what's being preached. I'm also talking about paying attention to just how things work, how people are in church, the people around you, your peers, their spirituality, their understanding of what all of this is even about in the first place. There's people that just, the bell rings, they come in, sit down, and it's a social experience, and that's about it. And they're extremely shallow, and when it comes to the matter of their spiritual life, concerning church and their spiritual like their Christian brothers and sisters and all that and so There's like this. It's an it's an awareness We talk about self-awareness like knowing that you smell bad or that you are too loud in a crowd or whatever well, there's there's a self-awareness that plays in and factors into this matter of spiritual life too and What's going on around you something that I have? noticed since I started paying attention and is this matter of what is it that motivates you to live for God? Is it, well, I mean, there's a thousand questions you could ask, but we're gonna talk about the people that get fired up about any cause, or if let's say they are an addict and they decide to quit and clean up, There's something that you hear often, and it's this, the verbiage that they use is, you know, what was your why? Why did you decide to get clean? Why did you decide to lose weight? Why did you decide to switch jobs? Why did you decide to go back to school? What was your why? Okay. Well, what's your why of why you serve God? And my observation is this. that most people's why is fear. And they use the excuse of, well, the Bible says 501 times it talks about fear, the fear of God, the fear of God. But have you ever developed past that first fear of God? Most people haven't. And there's reasons why. We're going to talk about it. But this is why, this is what we're going to talk about. Fear can't be your only why. If that's your only why, then you're dead in the water. You've missed it completely. Take this analogy, for example, when a young person starts to come of age to where they're going to be able to get their driver's license. If they are excited about it at all, they're waiting for the day when they can start driving, start practicing, and start, you know, let me drive, let me try. But tell me if I'm right or not, because it was this way for me. I was overzealous, way overconfident. You've heard me talk about it before, about getting to drive. Because it represented so much freedom for me. And yet there was this unspoken thing, my pride wouldn't let me say it out loud, but there was a lot of fear surrounding driving. And things that later on were, peers realized when you had real close calls after you started driving, you were like, that was almost the big one right there. I'm never telling dad about that one. You know, I think we all have had those experiences. But in the beginning, there's a lot of fear involved, normally. There should be a healthy fear involved in there, even if you don't talk about it. The fear of what? Well, there's the fear of unknown things, things that you don't understand or know about at all, and how it works. I mean, I remember getting in a car and not even having to sit and familiarize myself with where the blinkers was, and the wipers, and the lights. And used to, you had to actually turn a switch on, turn the headlights on. If it was a foreign car, it was exactly the opposite for where the windshield wipers turned on versus a domestic car. It was the other side of the steering column. As a matter of fact, in driving school, that was one of the first things they told us. You get in a vehicle, familiarize yourself with the controls of your car first, before you start it, before you buckle up, before you try to take off. Don't take off down the road and then try to familiarize. It's all these unknown things. It incites some fears. the fear of maintaining control. Well, I can do it. The overconfidence and the overzealousness of youth and inexperience always makes you feel like you can do it. That's what you project. But inside, you're trembling with fear. I remember getting out of the vehicle in my first months of driving, like getting where I was going and getting out in my hands. I would be so exhausted from stress of gripping the steering wheel. I didn't realize I had been gripping the steering wheel so hard for so long. And I'd get out and I'd be like, oh my goodness, just exhausted mentally, like a dog that's been playing catch or something for a while. Why? Well, because I was trying to maintain control. My inner, my subconscious knew that there was a real good chance I might not be able to maintain control. And I was afraid. There was fear involved in there, which provoked a lot of different things out of me. There's the fear of not being in control. The fear of maintaining control and seeing the need for stability and yet realizing your inability to do so. That incites fear. There's the fear, like I just said, of not being in control or losing control. There's the fear of failure in general. You know, what if I go take this test and I fail it? And then I have to do the walk of shame back to the car with my paper and tell mom or dad that I didn't make it again. Well, you ain't the first one. You won't be the last one. And this is just the beginning of many failures in your life. I hate to be the wet blanket, but there's going to be some things you try real hard at in life and you're going to fail. It's good to familiarize yourself with how to handle those emotions because you're going to have to face them again through life. Everybody, I've seen people that go and take the driving test and fail it and they never try again because they ain't going to fail. And their parents ought to be horse whipped for letting them do it because they need to learn how to fail and overcome and overcome. Overcome. Try again until you get it. That's important in life. Well, my observation about all of this, and using that analogy and comparing it to our spiritual, you know, our church life, if you want to call it that, is most people's relationship with God begins in a similar way. You ever thought about it? They become aware. When you start paying attention and you become aware of some things and your need for God, there's a whole lot of fear involved. You say, well, I don't understand. I mean, God is love and God is all these things. Why are you afraid? Well, same reasons why you're afraid to get in a car and drive. You want to. It offers so much more to life when you can drive. But the fear. I've known people that are so crippled by their fear that they become adults and never drive a car. Because they're just, and just insert this, they're crippled in every other way of their life too, by the fear. They allow fear in and the fear rules their life forever. It really does. They are handicapped in so many ways in life and had to have to be carried through life in so many other ways because of their fear. It's not their inability. They could do it, but it's their fear. Their fear begins the same way. The fears and apprehensions that they experience about the driving thing, it's all kind of the same when it comes to this matter. I mean, think about, can you remember back when you were facing the choice of do I choose to follow Jesus or not? What do I got to do? What's it going to cost me? How's this going to go? Am I going to be able to do it? I don't know anything about Him or it or if I'm, what if I start and I fail? Well, how many times have you heard people say, I ain't never got saved because I don't think I can live it. That's a common thing that's said. Why? Because it's a common fear. And a lot of times it just don't, you know, we give them an answer that is, well, just, you just got to put your faith in Jesus. They don't even know what faith is. And, and I feel like we misrepresent so often And that's why there's such a misconception about it all in the long run. It's why it doesn't have any sustainability, as it were. We misrepresent it from the beginning. And fear, because people have this idea we've got to get sinners to the cross through the fear of damnation. And if you can get them in with that, well then they're in. And it's all good. Except we just leave them there. And then they continue to try to perform this Christian life based on the fear that got them to the foot of the cross in the first place. You gotta get up from there. You read Pilgrim's Progress. He made it to the cross. His burden rolled away, but then the journey began. And you know, fear was an issue that he had to deal with all the way to the river, the last crossing. But he was able to overcome it, see. And so many people, are just, they're just torpedoed in the water by this matter of fear. Fear becomes the operating system of their attempt at Christian life. And it just cannot be this way. If you read Psalms chapter 111, verse number 10, the Bible says this, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We can't deny that. We can't just bypass the matter of the fact that the fear of the Lord, there is this thing called the fear of the Lord. What do you mean, fear? Well, let me read you something. Good old Mr. Webster. He is, it just never ceases to just, at what point did we lose this? Here's the definition. There's a bunch of definitions of fear. but I'm gonna scroll down here to what he says. He says this, in scripture, fear is used to express a filial or a slavish passion. Now we'll get to that in a minute, okay? In good men, the fear of God is a holy awe or reverence of God and his laws, which springs from a just view and real love of the divine character. Stay with me. Understand the English words I'm saying. This man still doesn't know God, but he's approaching the cross. He has a real love for the divine character. Why? Because it's just better than me. It's better than anything. It's better than the best I've ever been able to do. Leading the subjects of it to hate and shun everything that can offend such a holy being and inclining them to aim at perfect obedience. This is filial fear. I will put my fear in their hearts, says Jeremiah, okay? Slavish fear is fear of the effect or consequence of guilt. It is the painful apprehension of merited Punishment. It's your just reward. You got coming and you're scared. You're dreading it. There's no avoiding it. Slavish fear. Do you realize that the slavish fear is what rules in most people trying to be Christians now? It is the fear that they try to somehow live a victorious Christian life through. Is it any wonder that they literally have invented new doctrines that is permissible of sin in your life? Because why? They're still a slave. They are still a slave to fear of judgment. Why? We'll get to it. That just fascinates me. Such a simple, articulate, complete explanation of this circumstance I'm talking about this morning. There is the fear of the Lord, which is the filial, what He talked about to begin with, the filial fear of God. It's knowing who you are, admitting who you are, recognizing what you are, and then looking at Him and saying, I am not that. It's what Brother Kenny said last time he was here about, you know, when you see the Lord, high and lifted up. And then you see you. You can get somewhere after that. Why? Because there's this matter of your fear. Well, I'm going to turn over to Proverbs chapter one. Let me finish reading Psalms 111. I'm sorry. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. A good understanding have all they that do his commandments, his praise endureth forever. Proverbs chapter one, verse seven says this. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction. One more verse, Proverbs chapter nine, verse number 10. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. That's not the only places that it says this. Those are just the three I chose. But there's many other places where it says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's the beginning. It is the beginning. You know, when you are born into this world, it's the beginning of your life. When you're born again, it's the beginning. The fear of the Lord is the conception of your new birth. You need to understand that. Just like when the seed comes together and conception happens for humans. That's the beginning of life. Your life begins when you're born. You see, when you realize the fear of the Lord, it's the beginning of your being born again. That's where it begins. It starts heading that direction. Okay? Is it viable yet? No, many pregnancies are lost, aren't they? Yes, they are. Because there's so many things that can squash it out and kill it. But the fear of the Lord is the beginning. What is the fear of the Lord? It's just what we just said. I am who I am and He is who He is. And I must be like Him. I cannot continue like I am. And I can only get the help I need from Him. That's the beginning. That's the beginning. Okay? So, but here's the thing, the motivation for even seeing the need for God in your life or the desire to serve Him must begin with a realistic fear of God. And then not, like I said, an acknowledgement of who I am and who God is. But it cannot and it must not remain as only that. The fear and the dread and the effect of the consequence of guilt. Okay, so by definition then that means fear comes from guilt. in many, many ways. Okay, now I'm not talking about being scared of a grizzly bear when you go to the mountains. I'm talking about the fear of judgment from God. Why would you be afraid? Why did, when Adam and Eve chose to disobey God, and the one thing He told them not to do, why? Why did they hide themselves? They realized that they were so exposed that they realized they were even naked. That's why God said, who told you you were naked? No, they knew because guilt exposes you. Sin creates guilt and the guilt makes you feel naked before all. No matter if it's hidden to the eyes of men. You want to know why? Because God put it in your heart that you know he knows. There is no hiding from him. And no matter if you know that not a single breathing soul on earth knows what you've done, God knows. God knows. And the guilt that you're going to feel from your sin cannot be avoided by no one else knowing about it. That's why you see it just, someone alive. And no one knows what's wrong with this person. Why are they losing their mind? It's their guilt. And they know that they're guilty because they know God knows they're guilty. Why is there so much mental illness in the world? Guilt. Where's it come from? Sin. Sin. It provokes guilt and guilt provokes fear and fear sends people to hell because fear keeps you from believing that God can absolve your sins. He can take away your guilt and thereby fix the situation with your fear. That's how it is. Fear has its roots in guilt and guilt comes from sin. If you struggle with fears, and fear is your first go-to for your why to want to serve God, well, go to hell. Then examine just how you've really dealt with the sin in your life. I would grant you, I submit to you that that's why nobody really deals with sin anymore. They don't have to, you know, because salvation is just an emotional experience and don't even really involve sin. It's a whole other thing. It's an emotional thing. Fear of judgment or retribution from the Almighty for motivation to do what's right can only come from one place and that's the guilt you live with for the sin in your life that you refuse to deal with. You know? What did the old hymn say? Have you sins that two men's eyes are hidden? Tell it to Jesus. Why? He can help you. Fear is something, here's another concept, here's another thought. Now think about this with me. Did God create fear? He didn't. Think about this, fear is something that is from man towards God. Where was the first feeling of fear ever felt? Who was it felt by? Adam and Eve. Who was it felt towards? God. His friend. His friend. Why? What did God do? Not a single thing. is from man towards God. How do you think God felt when he walked in here and he heard Adam say the things that he said? You know, God has a heart too. It's been broken many times. By who? By man. By man. Fear is something that is from man towards God. It comes from man. towards God does not come from man first. Love originates from God towards man. Fear towards God, love towards man. Man's sin and his guilt separate him and God. His fear towards God separates him from God. What did Adam and Eve do? They hid. They heard him And they went and hid. Why? Fear. Fear of what? They knew they disobeyed. It was fear of the just retribution that was to come. They knew. But they did it anyway. And so fear drove them to hide themselves. It separated them from God, see? But when our sinful situation is dealt with and resolved, Love can then originate from man back towards God. Do you see what He did? See, that's what salvation and the cross and the atonement and all of it, that's what it did. It made it so that man could genuinely return love to God. And the fact that God gave Himself so that that could be done, is just beyond comprehension. Not a single person on the face of this earth has ever drawn a breath that has ever loved anyone like God has loved man. It just, it ain't happened. And the principal motivator then is no longer fear, but love. See the change, that's where the change happens is when your sin is forgiven and fellowship is restored and love can be returned to God honestly, then fear no longer is why you serve Him. There's nothing to be judged for now. You love Him, you serve Him because you love Him. How do you spot service motivated by fear? You want to know what it looks like? Here's a few things. False humility towards God. What do you mean false humility? Well, have you ever been in the grocery store and heard some mother screaming and hollering at her children who aren't really being that bad, but she's being super loud and obnoxious with her correction to her children? Not because she wants the child to behave, but because she wants every other person in the store to believe she's number one mom and is so in tune with her children. Yet what's your takeaway from that? Them poor kids. What a horrible mother. Is she really a good mom? No, she's a false good mom. She's a horrible mom. Well, people do the same thing with their servitude towards the Lord in front of people. And everyone looking on looks at it and says, ugh, be quiet. You're not really a nice person. And everyone knows it. You want to know how you know that their humility towards God who's thanked the Lord. You want to know why you know it's false? Because they also have veiled cruelty to everyone else around Instead of charity, there is no charity. It's cruelty. They are God's favorite because they are God's best. And the rest of you all are, you are worms. And they treat you as if God gave them permission to treat you like a worm because you're awful and I'm not. Because, you know, I've been enlightened. I know things you don't. So, you know, go sweep the floor. Get out of my sight. They're cruel. They do not possess charity. They don't possess the true love of God. They'll try to tell you what love really is, but it always loops back around and puts something in their pocket. Your charity and your love will somehow benefit their life in some way. And you're not doing it, so you must not have the love of God like them. They have false humility. and they have veiled cruelty to everyone around them. You wanna know why they're like that? Because they're still trying to serve the Lord out of fear. You wanna know why they're afraid? Because they know their sins. And so the ruse continues. Their pride and their fear rule their life and they will not back off that line. And so they're gonna gamble the long shot to try to convince you that you're wrong. And then they're gonna stand before the Lord someday and do the same thing and say, but didn't I do many mighty, wondrous works in your name? And he says, but I never knew you. Those are those people. Those are those people. We'll get to that in a minute. If you look over in Revelations 21, how did I not mark that? Give me a second and I'll find it. I got too much other stuff in my Bible. It makes it hard to turn and find things. Revelations 21, verse number seven, it says this, he that overcometh shall inherit all things. Now we fast forwarded through time until time is no more and we're standing before God. And those people are standing there saying, hey, I'm finally here. Aren't you happy that I'm here? I'm so ready to receive my reward. I've worked hard for it. And he says, he that overcometh shall inherit all things and I will be his God and he shall be my son. But he says, number one on the list, number one, the fearful. And I've always wondered about that statement and said, why would God throw someone in hell for being afraid? No, no, no, no, back up. Oh, they're going to be afraid. They tried to serve Him as if He was the God that was still going to smash them if they moved sideways the wrong way. They did not believe in His forgiveness. So their fearfulness ruled their life through their entire Christian life. Fear. Fearful. They were full of fear. Now were they scared they weren't going to be able to pay their bills this month? No, that's not what it was at all. You're confusing the different kinds of fear here. They looked at God and said, if I don't do exactly what he says and make him believe that I won't disobey him, then he's going to kill me. He's going to throw me in hell, because that's the kind of God he is. You don't please him. You don't sacrifice enough to him. Let me say it this way. They treated him like a pagan god. and called it Christianity, that's blasphemy against the Holy Ghost and everything. Fearful, number one on the list, the fearful. And what does that lead to? It's neat how this works, but the list here is a comprehensive list of exactly how it works out in people's lives. The fearful, the unbelieving. And the murderers, whoa, what a big jump. Yeah, but if you don't have those two things fixed in your life, there's nothing you won't do. There's no bottom to the degradation where you will drop into. There ain't no bottom to it. Fearful and unbelieving and the abominable and the murderers and the whoremongers and the sorcerers I mean, and the idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake, which burneth with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. How'd you go from being fearful to that list? Well, that's just where it goes. I mean, look at mankind and what happened in the Garden of Eden and where it went to so very quickly to the point where God literally reset the earth and humanity. And it didn't take them another thousand years and they were right back where they were before. Yeah, well, fearful. Fearful. Where there is fear, here's some things that there is. There's no trust. That's why in a relationship between a man and a woman, Husband and a wife, children and their parents, parents and their children. If there is fear, there's no trust. If there's no trust, then there's fear. When you have a child that's not living right, you know they're bent, heading for destruction. And they want to go jump in their car and just take off and be gone with no accountability or nothing like that. What does a parent experience in that? They experience fear. Why? Because you don't trust them. Why? Because you know what's up. You know what's up. There is not accountability. There's not transparency. There's not honesty. There's all of the things. So there's no way to trust. And where there is no trust, fear reigns. That's why parents lay up all night and pray for their children. They don't know where they're at. They don't know if they're dead or alive. They don't know if they're in jail or if they are, you know, they don't know. They don't know if somebody's trying to kill them. They don't know if they're trying to kill somebody. They don't know. Fear. There's no confidence in the relationship. There's no growth. The relationship cannot grow. Spiritually, if there are those things involved, there is no growth spiritually. There's no growth at all. No growth spiritually. No growth emotionally. Relationships cannot grow. You're dead in the water. Matter of fact, you're dying. The whole thing is dying. It's dying. Where there is fear, there is bondage. There is no freedom. You can paint it up to look like whatever you want it to look like, but it is still slavery. It's still slavery. Pharaoh did this to the children of Israel for 400 years, and he gave them all kinds of stuff. I mean, they had great food, but there was always a hook in it, see? I know this because they pined for it when they were in the wilderness. Oh, I wish we could just go back. We had plenty to eat. And I mean, come on, leeks and garlic? Now I like garlic well enough in stuff, but why would you pine for that? I mean, it wasn't like he was giving them the best of Egypt. He was giving them the, it was just common things. And they thought he was doing them well, doing them right. So they're bonded, but were they still slaves? Yes, they were still in bondage. Where there's fear, there's a disconnect from reality and this is important. Hear me when I say this is very important. There's a major disconnect from reality. How can you tell someone is ruled by fear in their life? They don't live in reality. You try to talk to them and talk about what's really going on, even in their own life. Nope, they won't hear it. Why? They've disconnected from reality. Why? They're paralyzed with fear. Fear rules. They're not in control anymore. Their fears are in control. They're paralyzed with fear. And so, what happens after that? Well, they have wild imaginations. I mean, everybody looks at all this mental illness going on in our world today and they say, what is making these people crazy? How can they truly believe that they are a cat? How can they truly believe that they are a woman when they are clearly a man, or vice versa? You know? And we just say, a bunch of nut jobs. They're all insane. The world's going crazy. No, they're ruled by fear. And it's ruled in them for generations. That's what people need to understand. There's a spirit of fear. And it's a devil. OK? And it gets in your family. And I'm not superstitious. I'm not super. This isn't superstition. But the people you hang around drag their spirits into your life. And then they take root in your children. I've seen a thing the other day that says the demons that you won't deal with will raise your kids. And that is a fact. And you want to know who else will raise your kids? The demons that other people won't deal with. And then you just blindly and naively expose your family to people who are full of devils and ruled by devils. And then you wonder why your kid grows up and, oh, I don't understand. We raised him in church, and we did everything right. No, you didn't. You let devils around them. You wouldn't admit that what you were seeing was the devil. Why? Well, it's scary. Scary. Fear gets in, and then it generationally roots into your family. And it just gets worse. Same as lust does. and greed and envy and hatred and strife and all those things are demons and they root into families. I know that this is true. I've seen it in ours. And it is a formidable foe. Formidable, very powerful. You become delusional. You believe your wild imaginations and your delusions and they become your reality. Where do you think the idea of virtual reality and video games and all this stuff came from in the first place? It's just a grooming tool to aid this. Do they make virtual games that are not scary, that people really flock to? No, usually the ones that everybody really gets into, they're kind of scary. You're killing each other in these games. or killing some beast. Why? Fear. Fear motivates you to do the things that you do in your virtual world. And it just pairs right together with your own fear that then it just drags you further into slavery to fear. And your understanding of God just evaporates farther and farther away and your imaginations become your reality. And they're an unrealistic narrative of the things you fear becomes what you cannot avoid doing. You just can't avoid it. 1 Timothy 1 verse 7. Let me turn back here. 1 Timothy 1 verse 7 says, for God has not given us the spirit of fear. There it is. There is one. But of what? Of power. A spirit of power. Well, where would that come from? You? No, you don't have it. He has to give it to you. A power to do what? Overcome the fear! The spirit of power and of love. What? How does that go together? And of a sound mind. There it is. There it is. You want to not be crazy no more? Ask God to cast the devils out of you that are in you. You recognize that the devil's in there, he's on his way out already. Because you're realizing, I'm not gonna be a slave to him no more. God will deliver me. You cry out for deliverance, God, he answers every time. He will not leave you a slave to the devil if you want out. You gotta want out. There's a big difference in the fear of the Lord and a person who is ruled and makes all their decisions in life based on fear. Claiming it as the fear of the Lord, but it actually being the operating system of your life. Let me find my last scripture here. 1 John. Hold on. I had it marked too, and it fell out. There it is. 1 John chapter four. Listen to what this says. 1 John chapter four and verse 14, he says this, and we have seen and do testify that the Father sent the Son to be the Savior of the world. Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him and he in God. Well, they say, well, that's where they pull their doctrine of, oh, you gotta do this, just believe. Well, believe in does something, though. You get to the point of saying, I believe. Then you have been freed. That process of realizing you were a slave and being delivered has just happened. Now you believe. You believe. Okay? And he says this, and we have known and believed that the love of God, we have, I'm sorry, I can't see. And we have known and believe the love that God hath to us. God is love. And he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him. Point I'm making is, where's fear? Is it gonna be in there? No, absolutely not. Herein is our love made perfect. It means it's completed, it is done. That we may have boldness in the day of judgment. What's that day? The day we stand before Him, when it's made complete. Because as He is, so are we in this world. Okay? There is no fear in love. Don't get no plainer English than that right there. If you're trying to serve the Lord out of fear, you're not in Him yet. He's not in you yet. You don't know His love yet. Because when you do, fear has to leave. Fear leaves the building. It evacuates. There is no fear in love, but perfect love, perfect love casteth out fear, because fear hath, what? It has torment. Fear hath torment. What do you think all these people with mental problems are experiencing? It's torment. They're not happy in their, their, their torment. It's torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. There it is. It's very simple when you think about it in this context. It's just a one, two, three, I mean it's a pretty simple pathway once the Holy Spirit will illuminate this concept to your heart. Why? Here, I'm past my time. Here's some ways that love and fear are different. Love never makes you do things against your conscience and your will, but fear does. You ever see somebody try to discipline their kid and they're doing it all wrong because they're all wrong? And they say, I just felt so bad. Well, it ain't, it ain't. You want to know why you felt that way? Because fear of judgment of other people about how you're raising your kids is making you do things against your conscience. God doesn't put it in you to do horrible things to a child. Fear does. Why is this so hard to understand? Love makes you seek the good in others first. And in all things, you'll see the homeless guy on the street and say, God loves him. You know what? He could. You see him for what they could be. You look for the good. Fear? No. Fear makes you immediately seek for the bad. Because you've got to protect yourself. Because you're afraid. Afraid of what? Whatever it is. Who knows? Whatever you imagine that that could be a threat to you somehow. Love inspires trust. Fear demands suspicion. Always. I love you, but... Cross me one time, watch what happens. No, you don't love. You don't love. Change in a person inspired by love is sustainable. Okay? Change because of fear is cyclical. It's just going to have to happen over and over and over and over and over again. You see families where they have this problem in their family where there's good times with everybody and the next thing you know everybody's cross ways with each other and they won't talk to each other for years and then the next thing you know we just can't live like this no more. Let's all get together and have a bonfire and talk it out and then we're all friends again. And then before you know it everybody's mad at each other again and nobody knows why. You want to know why? Because change inspired by fear is not sustainable. There is no love there. That's why there is fear. And that's why there is no change. It never endures. And guess what else it does as a bonus? It provokes bitterness. Provokes bitterness. Fear. Are you trying to serve the Lord out of fear? You'll never make it. You'll never make it. The fear of the Lord is the beginning. But perfect love casteth out fear. There is no fear in love. Don't stay in the fear. Don't stay there. Understand this concept and grow in grace and knowledge of the Lord. Forget not all his benefits. They're more than you can number. The fear doesn't have to be why, okay? Amen.