So those of you that are new, just join us. We're walking through a series through the book of Psalms dealing with humanity and what it's like, right? We've talked over and over again that for those of us who are in Christ, right? And if you're in Christ tonight online in here, let me hear you say amen. Those of us who are in Christ, we have lots of promises from God and God's promises are yes and amen. Amen. So we know they're ours. The problem is a lot of those promises we haven't gotten to receive or step into yet. So for many of us, right, for all of us who are in Christ, we have this part of us that live in this already, it's already ours through Jesus, but we haven't gotten it yet. It's sort of that already, but not yet thing that we live in as Christian people, right? We've received every heavenly blessing. Every blessing there is in heaven is ours. We haven't received it yet, have we? So we live in this already, but not yet. And the struggle, as we've learned through the book of Genesis, if you're following us on the weekend, the struggle is that down here on the ground, irregardless of what God's doing up here in his promise and keeping it down here on the ground, with us people, it gets complicated and messy. Yes or no? Yeah, it gets complicated. And what we're talking about is that reality of how do we do this? Listen, here's our verse for the series, right? You know this verse, right? Hebrews 2, for this reason, Jesus, right? He's gonna explain the reason. This reason, Jesus had to be made like his brothers in every way. Why? Here's the reason. In order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God. There's no mercy with Jesus, no faithfulness from Jesus to us unless he first does this, to be made like us. Because there's no way, right, for us to understand somebody else's plight until we've walked a mile in their shoes. Yes or no? Right? We know that saying, right? So Jesus walked a mile in our shoes. Why? So he could learn to be merciful and learn to be faithful to us and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people. So what happened? He himself suffered when he was tempted. Why? Because he's one of us. Anybody here ever suffered when they were tempted? Right? Anybody online? We all know that. Anybody suffer when they've gone through a trial? Yes or no? Right? Jesus himself went through the same struggles. He is able now to help those who are being tempted or tried. Listen, there is a great encouragement to those of us who know Jesus that has been sort of slid under the rug. And the greatest thing for you and me is that Jesus gets us. Somebody say amen. I mean, listen, how many people in your world actually get you? Two? You thought the person you married did, and they aren't even close, right? I mean, listen, there's a lot of us that people don't get, which is why we don't often talk about who we are to other people, because we're always afraid they what? They won't get us. They won't understand us. We're hesitant to tell people the truth, because it's like, if I tell you who I am, If I tell you what I'm thinking, I'm afraid you won't like me anymore. I'm afraid you'll think I'm weird. I'm afraid you'll, you fill in the blank. Why? Because being human like you're human, being human like I'm human causes us to have some concern. Do you realize online tonight and in here tonight, no matter where you're at in your relationship with Jesus, either you haven't accepted him or you're all in, do you realize that Jesus gets you? that he is merciful. He is so merciful to your plight. He was willing, based upon his perception of your plight and mine, he was willing to make atonement for you and me. Somebody say, thank you, Jesus. Listen, what an unbelievable blessing. He could have walked our path. And you know what he could have said? It ain't that hard, fellas. It just ain't that hard. You should be able to do this. No, what he said after he walked it was they need atonement. and I'm willing to do it for them. Aren't you grateful, right? Why is it that once you become a Christian, we eliminate the humanity of Jesus and make you feel guilty all the time for being terrible at being a Christian? Anybody know that feeling, right? The reality is because we're human in the struggle sometimes, you're made to feel, quote, less than. Listen, I don't know if you've followed us in Genesis, but there's a lot of messed up people that God uses, right? Abraham and Jacob, right? These are messed up people. We ain't even gotten to Moses and to David, right? Listen, God isn't as incapacitated with our humanity as preachers have made it out to be or as parents have made it out to be. God understands our humanity and because of that, he provides mercy and he's faithful to his offering of atonement for us. Man, what an unbelievable blessing. Instead of you carrying the failure, right, and the shame and the guilt of never being enough, how about carrying the peace and the joy, right, and the confidence that comes from knowing my Jesus knows me and my Jesus loves me and my Jesus accepts me irregardless. Somebody say amen. We all need that a little bit more. And here's the thing, if you're a recipient of that, you need to give that away more. Right? And if you're struggling to give away that mercy to people who are walking the same walk you're walking, then you're probably not enjoying the same mercy that I'm enjoying. Because listen, Jesus gets us. I stand in the back before I preach every week and I put my hands up against the wall back there and on the wall it says, I believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God. It's my sanctuary, right? I go there every time before I come on this stage and I put my hands on the wall and I quote that verse. And then before I come out, I make sure that I'm honest with God about what struggles I've had before I get on that stage. Because listen, I don't know if you know this or not, but I work all day on Wednesday and there's a lot of stuff I have to work out before I come out here. here, right? So I have to stand back there and be completely honest about some of the stuff I'm dealing with before I come out of here. And here's the thing. I have complete confidence that when I do it, Jesus is unbelievably merciful and continues to be faithful to me in spite of the struggles, right? It's that confidence I want us to learn to live in and what Psalms does. Psalms gives us a view into what it's like to be human because over 70 of these songs, these songs, right? These poems that were written were written by a man named David. It doesn't take you very long to study David's life to realize that dude had some serious human nature issues, yes or no? Man, dude was a mess, right? It'd be hard for me to hire him on our staff, right? Now Joe would want me to hire him in a heartbeat, right? But I would be challenged to look at his resume and go, man, we gotta have this guy, right? But God, unbelievably merciful. And through so many of these songs and so many of these poems written by Cora, right? Written by the choir director, written by Asaph, written by David, you get to hear the heart cry of humanity. We talked about loneliness. Right? The heart cry of loneliness. We talked last time about fear. And the reason we're doing fear is because from everything I can read, the number one human expression, right? The most base of our expressions is often fear. Listen, I grew up being afraid of the dark. Anybody else want to be honest? Okay. Four of us, right? Scared me to death. And I'm 59 years old and I'm going to be honest with you. I don't like camping because you have to do it outside in the dark. Right? I'm not big, listen, I'm not big on noises that I can't pin down to something I can see. Anybody else? Not a big fan of that. I don't carry an assault rifle with me in case something goes down because I'd probably shoot myself in the foot, right? I'm not proficient at hand-to-hand combat and I don't know how to speak to a charging animal, right? I've raised teenagers. I don't know how to speak to charging animals, right? I don't like it. That's fear. That's not the kind of fear we're talking about. Right? Listen, there are neighborhoods in certain cities you shouldn't go into after dark. Yes or no. Yes, right? Listen, is it smart to have a little bit of fear before entering in one of those environments at night? Yes or no? Yes, that's hardwired into us. That kind of fear, I'm not talking about. There are some fears that you need to survive. Hey, if I put my hand on this 200 degree oven, it's probably gonna burn me. I should be afraid of that. Yes or no? Right? Listen, people who don't have that fear, we call those people names. We make memes about those people, right? Because those people are people we think lack common sense, yes? Right? For some of you, those people jump out of airplanes, right? Yeah, we look at those people and go, they got a wire missing, right? Because anybody that thinks you jump out of an airplane 20,000 feet in the air, right, 10,000, whatever, we think, They should be afraid of that, yes or no? I think anybody that rides a roller coaster should be afraid, because I think they're dumb, right? But you know what? Disney makes a fortune making stupid people ride roller coasters. I'm kidding, if you're a roller coaster person, I'm not calling you stupid, okay? But listen, that's fear we're not talking about. So don't be thinking along those kinds of terms. We're talking about a fear, right? We're talking about a spirit of fear that has us creating a narrative that's 100% true even though it hasn't happened, right? The kind of fear that says, the doctor called, I know I've got cancer. It's a done deal. I know I've got it. And I haven't even been to the doctor yet. Haven't responded to the call, but when you get the call, right, you have convinced yourself before you ever get to the doctor, listen, he's going to tell me I got cancer and I know I'm going to die within six weeks. And that's how you approach the appointment. Anybody understand what I'm talking about? Yes or no. We're talking about that kind of fear. That kind of fear that permeates our teenagers right now. The kind of fear that's causing them to live incredibly unsettled lives because of the narrative they've created in their head to be true even though nothing has happened. What does the Bible say about that fear? We started last time we were here, we talked about a healthy fear. Scripture says that fear of God is the beginning of wisdom. Somebody say amen. There is a healthy fear in scripture. Listen, how much power does God have? How much knowledge does God have? How much authority does God have? Listen, you and I would be sort of silly if we didn't have a little bit of fear of that, yes or no? I mean, come on, man. There's a reverence and awe, a fear aspect into that. I was raised by an authoritative father. Man, there was fear at times in that. Maybe not always healthy, but listen, when somebody has that much knowledge and authority and power over you, you would be silly not to acknowledge that at some level. Listen, God acts without impunity. He is that sovereign in what he does. And he does it because his nature is so impervious to wrong. That kind of authority should cause you and I to have a pause. And yet we live in a world where that's not the case. But what about those of you that know Jesus? Right? What about those of us who have committed our lives to Jesus and faith? Right? So here's what we're gonna talk about tonight. We're gonna go through scripture, talk quickly about the heartfelt cry of fear. I just want you to hear these scriptures, right? about how the psalmist writes, right? How the cry of fear comes out. And then we're gonna talk about the hope-filled response to that fear, and then I wanna tie it in at the end here, right? So here's the heartfelt cry of fear. Listen to these scriptures. Psalm 53, starting at verse one. Everybody read this with me. Everybody online, everybody here says what? The fool says in his heart what? no God, premise, baseline, right? The fear of God is the beginning of knowledge and wisdom and understanding. But the fool, the person without wisdom and understanding has said in their heart, there is no God, right? He goes on to say this, they are corrupt, their ways are vile, there is no one who does good. But God looks down from heaven on the sons of men to see if there are any who do understand, which means The fear of God is the beginning of understanding. So if God looks down to see if there's anybody who understands, he's looking for people who have a healthy fear of God. Somebody say amen, right? Any who will seek God. Everyone, he says, has turned away. This is the heartfelt cry of fear, right? Everybody's turned away. They have together become corrupt. Does anybody feel that way about our nation right now? Yeah. Right, everyone, everyone's turned away. They've all together become corrupt. There's no one who does good, not even one. Will the evildoers never learn? Those who devour my people as many bread and who do not call on God. There they were. Everybody read this sentence with me, this second sentence, right? There they were overwhelmed with Fear, right? Fear, where there was nothing to dread, right? Listen, when you eliminate God, I want you to get the connection here. When you eliminate God, there's nothing but fear. The psalmist says, God scattered the bones of those who attacked you. You put them to shame for God despised them. Let's get the connection here, right? The fool says there's no God. Those who fear God have an understanding, right? And here's what you find out. People without a fear of God live in what? Fear, dread, right? How about Psalm 56? Listen to the heartfelt cry of fear. Be merciful to me, O God, for men hotly pursue me. All day long they press their attack. The Psalmist says, my slanderers pursue me all day long. Many are attacking me in their pride. My slanderers pursue me all day long and many are attacking me in their pride. I just read that, right? I just read that. Keep going, right? All day long, they twist my words, they're always plotting harm to me. They conspire, they lurk, they watch my steps, eager to take my life. On no account, let them escape. In your anger, God, bring down the nations. record my lament, list my tears in your scroll, are they not in your record?" Right? In verses 3 and 4 that weren't in that verse of Psalm 56, he records the idea of being afraid. Listen, here's a guy who thinks that the entire world is turned on him, that everybody is against him. Slanderers, right? Liars and murderers. They're plotting, they're pursuing. And the Bible says that he lives in fear. So did you hear the heartbeat? Did you hear his heartfelt cry that comes from a place of fear in the psalmist? How about Psalm 64? Right? Hear me, oh God, as I voice my complaint. Protect my life from the threat of my enemy. Hide me from the conspiracy of the wicked, from that noisy crowd of evildoers. The evildoers sharpened their tongues like swords and aimed their words like deadly arrows. He says they shoot from ambush at the innocent man. They shoot at him suddenly without any fear. They encourage each other in their evil plans. They talk about hiding their snares. They say, who's gonna see them, right? They plot injustice and they say, we've devised a perfect plan. Surely the mind and the heart of man are cunning. Over and over and over in Psalms, you hear a person cry from a place of fear. Anybody in here online ever known that place of fear? Yes or no? Right? It's a terrible place to be. And again, I'm not talking about being afraid of the dark. Right? I'm talking about the kind of fear that has the ability to disconnect you from the knowledge and the fear of God that brings understanding. Right? The kind of fear that makes you feel so overwhelmed, so outmatched that you have no hope of escape. The psalmist constantly, constantly constantly cries from a place just like that, right? Over and over. Job said it this way, right? Job said, why is light? I mean, listen to this guy's heartfelt cry. Why is light given to those in misery and life to the bitter of soul, right? Why, right, to those who long for death, does death not come? Who search for it, death, more than for hidden treasure. Right? For those who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave. I mean, what a dark cry, right? Job goes on to say, and remember, Job has lost his family, he's lost his livelihood, he's lost everything. This is chapter three. This is after all this calamity. Listen to his cry. He says, why is life given to a man whose way is simply being hidden, whom God has hedged in? He's not even protecting him. For sign comes to me instead of food. My groans pour out like water." Listen to this. This is the key. What I feared has come upon me and what I dreaded, right, or feared as well has happened to me. Anybody understand that? Yeah. I mean, over and over and over. The one thing that you hear in scripture is you hear people who are constantly expressing this right here. The thing that I fear the most has happened. Anybody know that? Right? Some of you have been through divorce. And that was the scariest thing you could imagine. Some of you have been through the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, right? A diagnosis that you didn't expect, right? You know the stories, those things that you dreaded, those things that you feared the most, they've happened. and you heard Job's heart in all of that stuff, right? We could go through tons and tons of that, but you hear it, right? And I know that a lot of you online in here can relate to that feeling, yes or no? You can relate to that. The question is, what's the response to that kind of fear? What do you do when that happens, right? Let's talk about this. Let's talk about some hope-filled response. And I want to try to really connect this for you, right? Because I think it's so important that we understand this, right? I wanna read a couple of verses from the psalmist, right? Now I want you to hear the hope that the psalmist expresses, right? The Lord is my light, Psalm 27. The Lord is my light. end my salvation, everybody online and everybody in here, read it with me. Whom shall, come on, say it with me again. Whom shall. The psalmist cries. My enemies are plotting, they're all over me. They never relent. Day and night, they slander, they plot, they devise, they scheme because men are cunning, right? I'm all hedged in, I'm overlooked, I'm not protected. God, why won't you let me die when I seek death more than anything else? Why have you hedged me in? And yet the psalmist also says in a hope-filled cry, the Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom? shall I fear, right? The Lord is the stronghold of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall. Though an army would besiege me, circle me around, my heart will not, what? My heart will not fear, though war break out against me, even then will I be confident. Do you think fear is a factor in people's lives in America in 2023? Yes or no? Of course it is. And with things that are happening over in Israel, with an impending election coming next year, with inflation skyrocketing, interest rates going through the roof, right? The price of everything quadrupling. Right? The crime so rampant in big cities that they're just closing all of these businesses because our world or our nation is crumbling to the ground. Fear is a huge thing for people. And what does the psalmist say? He says, Of whom shall I fear? And of what shall I be afraid? Because the Lord is the light of my salvation. He's the stronghold of my life, right? Listen to this one, Psalm 46 says this, God is our refuge and a strength and ever present, what? Help in trouble. Therefore, therefore, say it, we will, we won't fear. Right? God is the stronghold. Right? He's the ever-present help. Because of that, we won't fear. We won't be afraid. Even though the earth... Even though the earth would give way, meaning your foundation is no longer solid, and the mountains would fall into the heart of the sea, even if it feels like the world is coming apart around you, even though the waters would roar and the foam in the mountains would quake with their surging, he says, I'm not gonna be afraid. Why? Because God is an ever present help in times of trouble, right? That's what he says. And yet somehow in the midst of that, we still live lives that are full of fear. So what's missing, right? What are we missing here in the connective tissue? I wanna do that. So skip all those things, David, and I want you to pick up 2 Timothy 1, six and seven. Everybody understands there's a healthy fear. We should fear God, yes or no, right? Listen, the Bible says, the fool has said in his heart, there is no God. Those of us who fear the Lord, that is the beginning of understanding, right? There's a heartfelt cry of fear. You're a person, you're a human, I'm a human. There is a place to express that heartfelt feeling of fear, yes or no? Because the reality is this, we've talked about it. One of the things about you that's human and one of the things about me that's human is how we feel, yes or no, right? And here's the thing about feeling. It comes from the part of our brain that makes decisions, which makes some of our lives a walking disaster, yes or no, right? We know that. Listen, when you have to make a decision against how you feel, is that hard or is that easy? It's hard because we want to act on how we feel. We feel afraid. We feel scared, right? We have fear in our feelings. But here's the thing that's only going to make this work, is in spite of how we feel, acting out of faith, which is why scripture says that faith without works, without evidence, isn't enough, it's dead. Which is why the expression of faith is always in obedience. Listen, if you put your faith in Jesus, therefore putting your faith in God tonight, online and here, let me hear you say amen. The only evidence of your faith in mine is not that confirmation verbally. The evidence of that faith is in your obedience to God's word. Somebody say, amen. You can say you have faith, but if you have no works, the Bible says that faith is dead and it can't say. Faith has to have an expression. We think sometimes the faith expression is coming to church and worshiping, getting our hands up in the air. And listen, there is a part of faith that expresses that way to God in worship because we're totally dependent upon him. Somebody say amen. But if that's the only expression, You're missing about 95% of God's word. And God's word does not speak into how you feel. It speaks into how faith operates. Listen to this, let's connect these tissues, right? Paul writes, for this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift, charis in the Greek, which means grace, right? Fan into flame this grace of God, which is in who? So say me. right? Say me, right? Which is in me through the laying on of my hands. Listen to what happens in the expression of that exchange, right? For God did not give us a spirit of in the Greek. That word is Fear. God didn't give us a spirit. Everybody say the word spirit. God didn't give us a spirit of fear, but he gave us a spirit of, say it with me, of power, of love, and of self-discipline. Okay, everybody clear on this? Fear, fear. Fear is what? Is a what? Everybody say spirit. We don't have a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love and self-control. So fear is from a spirit and faith, faith is from a spirit. Everybody clear on this? God didn't give us a what of timidity, a what? Spirit of fear. He gave us a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline, okay? Now we have fear identified. You see, we think fear is how we feel. We think fear is how we feel. Let me break it down to you. How many of you ever have anxiety or worry? Right? I would assume everybody in here and everybody online at times has had worry and anxiety. Yes or no? We all have it, right? And what would be the typical Christian response to you if you express worry and anxiety? You just need to have what? You just need to have more faith. Do you realize that when the Bible talks about worry and anxiety, it never tells you to have more faith? Do you know what the Bible tells you to do when you have worry and anxiety? Come on, somebody say it. Come on, does everybody say the word pray? The Bible says when you suffer fear and anxiety, it's not, the response isn't to have more faith, the response is to what? Pray. Because the word worry in the Greek means to divide. You see, Listen, I've got five stinking kids. I've got nine grandchildren. I live in the same country you live in. My body is wracked with the same crippling diseases that come with other human beings. I live with the same dilemmas and struggles that you do. I have a job, I have bills, right? I go to the grocery store, I see what the bill is, right? I get a notice that they're raising my rent $200 and no explanation, right? Listen, I'm gonna be 60. Somebody said, well, good luck with being 60, because you're gonna wake up and your body's just gonna stop working. Thank you for that, right? Right? Listen, do you think that you're gonna walk through this life without having worry and anxiety? No. It's going to be a troubling thing to have to work through. But here's what the Bible says. Philippians four says this. Do not be anxious about what? Oh man, don't you just hate Paul when he does that stuff? Right? But here's the thing about Paul. He says, don't be anxious about anything, but instead, what should you do? Have more faith. He says, but in everything by what? Prayer and petition, he says, with thanksgiving, present your request to God. That's the response, right? Bring that other verse back up, right? The response to worry, the thing that wants to divide you from God and separate you from God. You realize that's what anxiety does. Anxiety is designed to separate you from God. Because if you're worried over this, right, now you're separated from God. And here's what happens. Paul says the way to never live in that division is pray when you feel anxious. And listen, let's be honest. Let's be honest, we're in church. How many times is that not our response? How many times when we're anxious is a response not to pray? Because the Bible promises that after we do, here's God's promise. If you pray, right, the next verse says this, and the peace of God. Everybody say that word. Peace. And you know what peace is? It's joining things together. Right? The remedy for anxiety is peace. Because peace divides. Peace separates, or worry divides and worry separates. Peace brings things together. He says now, the thing that wants to divide you, right? The thing that wants to worry you. I mean, my daughter is 20 years old, 20 years old. She's flying to Long Island, New York with another 20 year old, unsupervised. They're going to New York for two, three days to go to a wedding of their friend. Do you think that I'm tempted to have a little anxiety? Yeah, because I know my daughter. She has my DNA in her, right? She's going to be in New York City outside of it. I said, what are you doing on Saturday? Oh, I don't, I don't know what we're going to do yet. You think, you think my brain went, you probably should worry about this. Yeah. 100%, I've got a granddaughter who's battling staying in remission from leukemia. You think I should worry? It's easy to feel that way, isn't it? Right, I've got a son who's decided that he's up and moving from his home, selling his home and moving to Ohio and he doesn't even have a job. There's a way at times in our world to feel anxious. Here's what the Bible says. The thing that would want to separate you from God, if you pray, that thing won't separate you from God because the peace of God, which rallies you back to God, will transcend. That means it will overcome, right? It will overshadow and transcends all understanding. And it'll do what? It'll guard your heart and your mind. It'll guard the place of your feelings and the place of your facts. It will guard all of that. And yet the reality is when we feel anxious, we don't often pray. We call our friends, right? We post things on Facebook, right? We whine or we cry or complain or we try to take control and we try to fix it, right? Instead of just letting God's peace reign where we're connected back to God, we allow worry and now we're separated from God. And here's how fear works. Fear is an altitude thing. Worry is at the ground floor of life here. Listen, I would be a moron as a parent to not have a little concern about my 20-year-old flying to New York City unattended. I would not be very smart, right? I would probably not be very smart to have a little bit of concern about my 11-year-old granddaughter who's dealing with the effects of leukemia constantly. That's easy thing for me to get worried about or have anxiety about. The remedy, listen, I need you to hear this, the remedy for anxiety and worry is not more faith. The worry and anxiety is eliminated when we act in obedience, out of faith, which says when we're worried and we're anxious, we should what? Pray, and then God puts the peace, the unifying factor to work, and it'll transcend your ability to understand it, and while it's there, it will guard your heart, your feelings, and it will guard your mind, right? Anybody want that? That's what I want. And so worry, it is a ground level, it's sea level effects of humanity. We all have to deal with that. When Paul says, don't worry about anything, he says that because we'll worry about what? Everything. He says, don't worry about anything. Instead, pray. Put your prayers and your petitions to God and then the peace of God, the glue that will keep you connected to God will guard your heart and mind. But here's the problem. If you're worried and anxious, now we begin to go up in elevation. Now, all of a sudden, worry and anxiety, when not acted out of obedience, right, to God's word, all of a sudden now, worry and anxiety turns into what? Fear. And now we no longer are dealing with a human nature issue. Now we're dealing with, what did he say? I didn't give you a spirit of fear. Now we're dealing with a spirit of fear. You see, when you don't act in obedience to your flesh, this is true of every sin, right? What's the Bible say? The Bible says that the acts of the flesh are evident. Sexual immorality, greed, right? Lust, right? Impurity, debauchery, drunkenness. Those are things our flesh want to do. But the spirit, the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, self-control. You see, the Spirit is always, always fighting our flesh. Yes or no? Anybody relate to that in here? Well, it's Wednesday night, you're all relating to that, right? We know that that's the fight. Your flesh wants to do something stupid and the Holy Spirit says, hey, hey, don't do that, right? Your flesh wants to do something evil and the Spirit says, hey, hey, don't do that. Sometimes we win those fights and sometimes we lose them. Somebody say amen, right? We know that fight. So your flesh wants to worry. Your flesh wants to be anxious. The spirit, the spirit that God gave us is a power, love, and self-discipline. What we do when we act in obedience to the spirit is we don't worry, instead we do what? We pray. We pray. Now guess what happens when you don't act in faith by being obedient? The Bible says, according to James, anything that we do that is not of faith is a what? Somebody say sin. It's a sin. So all of a sudden, think about it. You're anxious, I'm anxious, right? I got something to be worried about. And instead of worrying, right, I pray. I put all of my prayers and all of my petitions, right, I give them to God in prayer. And God, who is faithful, right, who doesn't lie, gives us his peace. Now all of a sudden I'm not divided from God, I'm connected to God and that peace of God that transcends my ability to understand it, it's gonna guard my heart, it's gonna guard my mind, right? But now imagine you don't do that. Because God's word has now made itself clear. And if you have faith in God, you will do what with God's word? You will what? Somebody say obey. You will obey. But now you didn't. You didn't act in your faith and obedience. The Bible says now when you don't act in obedience to your faith, you're living in what? Come on, say it. You're living in sin. Now we're living in sin. Now all of a sudden we don't have a human problem. Now we have a spiritual problem. Because now when you don't turn your worry over to obedience, now you're living in the spirit of fear. Let me prove it to you. Let me show it to you. Go to Matthew 8. Listen to Matthew 8. This is Jesus. It's in a boat. Jesus got into the boat with his disciples. and his disciples followed him. So they all get in the boat. Jesus gets into the boat first. Everybody say he did. He got in the boat first, right? And what does Jesus know as God? He knows what? He knows all things. He got in the boat first, right? Say he did, right? He got in the boat first and they followed him without warning. Without warning, a furious storm came upon the lake. Did Jesus know the storm was coming? Yes. So the without warning is about who? Yeah, it's about us, the disciples. Jesus got in the boat first and they followed him. Without warning to them, a furious storm came up on the lake and the waves swept over the boat. Look what they did. Jesus was what? Annoying, right? Jesus is asleep. Look what happened. The disciples went, woke him up and said this, Lord, right? Save us. Right? That's not a question, Lord. You gonna save us? Right? That is an exclamatory statement in the Greek. They are panicked. Lord, save us. Rescue us. It's the same word for salvation. So, Lord, save us. We're going to what? Their fear has already created a narrative that's 100% true. You see, that's what fear does. Fear's got a voice and it'll create a narrative, right? It'll already tell you something that's gonna happen that isn't happening yet. But fear, because it's a spiritual thing, will speak a narrative. Anybody understand the narrative of fear? Yes or no? Oh yeah, the minute you get yourself convinced of something out of fear, that is what you write in your book, and now your whole life's devoted to fighting that narrative. Because in your world, you're now the judge, jury, and executioner of facts. Right? We're going to drown. That's their narrative. Look what Jesus says. He replied, say it with me, four words. You of? He didn't tell him to go pray. He didn't say pray. They were afraid, and he said, because they were afraid, they lacked what? Nowhere in scripture does it say we lack faith if we're worried or anxious. It says to pray. But when we become afraid, now we have separated ourselves from God, right, in the practical living, and now a spirit of fear is running the show, and Jesus says to them, you of little, he didn't say you of little prayer. He said you of little faith. Why are you so afraid? And then what did he do? He simply got up and rebuked the winds and the waves and it was completely calm. Why did he do that? He did it because they were what? Afraid. Were they in danger? No. Did they feel like they were in danger? Yes. You see when fear, listen, listen to me. When fear becomes the narrative of your life, you're living in disobedience and sin. Because the Bible says if you don't act out of faith, you're acting out of sin. And faith says, I should obey God's word. And God's word says when I'm worried or anxious, because listen, you ain't ever gonna get to be afraid until you go through worried and anxious first, right? You're just never gonna do it. You're gonna have to go through worry and anxiety before we ever get to fear. And what we should do when we face worry and anxiety is we should what? Everybody say it. We should pray. We should pray. And James says, when you pray, don't doubt because when you doubt you should expect nothing in return. So when you pray, you're going to trust that God's promise is going to be kept. And the peace of God that transcends all understanding is going to guard my heart, my mind, I'm going to be fine. But when our faith won't be obedient, now all of a sudden we're afraid. And man, fear has the craziest narratives in the world. You ever try to talk rationally to somebody who's afraid and they already have a narrative plucked out in their head? You ever do that? Man, that's complicated. It's really complicated to have a conversation with somebody who's so irrational about a story they've made up that hasn't happened yet, but in their mind, it's 100% certainty. It's just the way it works. And yet the reality is it permeates. Listen, do you know how many marriages get submarine because somebody gets afraid and creates a stupid narrative? And that narrative to them is 100% true. You know how many people's lives get completely bombarded and derailed because of a health scare and they've created the narrative they're gonna die, right? It just happens. The Bible says, you don't get to fear unless you've passed through worry and anxiety. And if we're actually obedient as Christians during fear or during worry and anxiety, we'll pray and it'll be over. But when you don't, fear shows up. And Jesus says, when you're afraid, you have little what? You have little faith. You see, fear is a big deal because it is a result of a disobedient act. It's a result of us not living out our faith and obedience. That's different. But when you, Bible says, God did not give us a spirit of fear, but a spirit of power, love. Everybody say love. Love. Listen to this verse, check this out, right? Everybody read it with me. There is no. If you're operating out of the spirit of love, you'll have what? No fear. Because we don't have a spirit of fear. We have a spirit of. Right, we have a spirit of power and of love. There isn't any fear when you walk in the spirit. But when you're disobedient during worry and anxiety, now you've got to contend with the spirit of fear. And the spirit of fear is contrary to the spirit we have because there is no fear in what? But perfect, that is the word, complete, whole, love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. I was afraid you were coming in, right? Listen, tell me that makes sense to you. Listen, there is nothing in our lives we're gonna have to deal with worrying anxiety. We live in a broken world and we're broken people. And broken people in a broken world can make some really horrendous decisions, yes or no? And according to scripture, the wheat still lives among the tares, yes or no? And so we're gonna have a fight here because that already but not yet stuff, that's burdensome. It's absolutely burdensome to know that in heaven, there's no more pain, there's no more mourning, there's no more sadness, there's no more sin, and yet we aren't there yet. So in this world, Jesus said, you're gonna have what? You're gonna have trouble. And you know what trouble breeds? Worry and anxiety. But if you trust in Jesus, if you have put your faith in God through Jesus online in here, let me hear you say amen. Faith without works is dead. So what does faith do? It acts in obedience to God's word. And God's word says, when you are worried and you are anxious, you should what? You should pray. You should make your prayers and your petitions known to God and the peace of God, which transcends our understanding will guard our heart and mind. And the reality is when you don't, the spirit of fear shows up because now I'm divided. Now I'm divided. Now I'm divided. Now I have to contend with the spirit of fear. And now I've got a spiritual fight because Jesus said a lack of fear or a lack of faith leads to fear. John said, love has no fear. So now we're not obeying. We're not even following the spirit of God. Now we're following a spirit of fear. And what did Jesus say? Jesus said this, you can't have two masters because you're either gonna follow one, serve one, and despise the other. You're gonna be devoted to one. You're gonna love one and you're gonna hate the other. You see, for some of you in here and for some of you online right now, you're living a two master life. You've excused worry and anxiety in your life. You've excused it and you don't pray about it anymore. You just accept it as a part of your personality and you're not praying about it anymore. The problem with anxiety and worry unchecked leads to a spirit of fear. Now all of a sudden you're not obeying the spirit that God gave us because God's spirit is a power and of love and of self-discipline. The Bible says there's no fear in love. But a lack of faith produces fear. So guess what you're trying to do? You're trying to straddle the line and you're trying to serve both masters. You're trying to, listen, you come to church and we can sing some amazing stuff, unbelievably talented and gifted people that God uses. And the noise of your song and the noise of their song and the noise of worship just, and praise resounds off of the rooftops and it's safe in here. But an hour and 30 minutes after I'm done, We walk out those doors and all of a sudden now, a place that we felt safe no longer makes me feel safe. Now I'm gonna walk in worry and anxiety and I'm not gonna pray about it. I'm just gonna talk about it over and over again. And then in our separated state, we now have a spirit of fear. So you have the Holy Spirit and you have spirit of fear. And on Sunday mornings or Saturday nights or Wednesday night, you serve the spirit of faith, but over here you serve the spirit of fear. And what did Jesus said? You can't have two masters. See, fear is a big deal. Because when fear shows up, it's made the statement, I'm not obedient because I didn't pray about my worry and anxiety. And now I'm lacking faith. And faith without works is dead. And everything that we do that does not come from our faith, James says, is a sin. Does that make sense to you, church? So should Christian people ever be afraid? Come on, say it. Say no. Should Christian people ever live in fear? No, we shouldn't. And don't tell me it's easier said than done, because I know better than that. I know better. It's a choice. And it goes back to our humanity. You feel this, and because we're wired the way we're wired and we want to act on how we feel, That's why the Bible says obedience is more important than sacrifice. To hearken to God's word better than going on a mission trip. At the end of the day, if your faith isn't causing you to walk in obedience to this word, then it's not working for you. There's too many Christian people that are afraid. And there's too many Christian people that are raising children that are afraid. And there's too many Christian people that go to church right now and everything in their service, I listen to them week after week. Everything that's coming from the stage and everything that's coming into the ears of church people is built on fear. I ain't nothing to be afraid of. My God is an ever-present help in times of trouble. And even though the mountains would be thrown into the sea, and that causes the sea to rage and to foam, I'm not going to be afraid, because God is the light of my salvation. Whom shall I be afraid of? Right? He is my strength and my hope. Of whom shall I be afraid? Should Christians ever be afraid? No. Not at all. Jesus said, don't fear him who can kill the body, but fear him who can kill and destroy both body and soul in hell. The only person that should ever be feared is God. Outside of that, there is no fear in love. Amen, church? So Father, today, I'm praying for the promise of your word to come true, that your spirit will convict us of sin and of righteousness and judgment to come. There's too much fear in our churches today, which means there's too much fear in Christians today. There's nothing in this world that we need to be afraid of because you are God. You hold the whole thing in your hand. I know there's a lot of anxiety and worry in our lives. It's impossible not to deal with that. My prayers for every person that deals with anxiety and worry right now, Lord, that your spirit would convict them that we should act more faithfully and obedient to your word and pray. And when we do, God, would you keep your promise to guard us, to guard our hearts, and to guard our minds, and to bring that peace in our lives that transcends understanding. Help us to be people that don't live in fear anymore, God, I pray in Jesus' name, amen. God bless you, church.