Awe of God

Welcome to Gateway Churches Podcast.

Wherever you're tuning in from, we hope you're encouraged by today's message.

Hello, Gateway! Can I say it's a real privilege?

I feel like I'm with family.

Everybody stay standing.

I just love praying before bringing the word of God.

I do feel like I'm with family.

You guys have helped us to be able to resource.

We've partnered together to now put over 60 million resources into the hands of pastors and leaders literally all over the world.

So I want to say thank you, thank you, thank you.

It's all because you have the most amazing leaders, Pastor Robert and Debbie Morris.

And, you know, I told James, I said, hey, listen, there are three men I listened to in the gym.

That is Jensen, that is uh Pastor Robert Morris and Chris Hodges.

Those are my three pastors.

I live in listen in the gym.

I have so much respect for Pastor Robert.

We've known each other since before the church started.

I remember we were out in West Texas.

He said, Yeah, we're gonna start a church in Dallas, Texas.

I said, that's great.

And so now look what Gateway has become, one of the leading churches in the United States, a voice that is heard all over the world.

I just want to thank you so much for loving Jesus the way you do.

Amen.

Um I want to say hello and thank my special friend Steve Doolin.

He and I have been very close for years.

He and Melody are just like family to Lisa and I.

James and Bridget, I am so excited about what is happening here.

So excited about this.

It's actually an inclusion.

I just see it when the young and the old come together and we do it together.

That's the way God called it.

Your sons and daughters, young men, old men, that's the way it should be.

Amen.

Now, um, I want to say this.

A lot of you don't know me, and I feel the best way I can introduce myself is introduce you to the people I love so much, and that's my family.

So here's a recent picture of my family.

Uh Lisa and I have been married 41 years this year.

She is my very best friend, and if I was single, I would be on her trail.

And uh, these are our four sons, four daughter-in-laws, and our G babies.

You say, What is a G baby?

I am way too young to be grandpa, so it is G daddy and G for short.

We have uh we have, I think, four pictured there, no, five pictured there, but there's one in the tummy of Christian, our youngest son's wives, and that's Ezrah.

He was born right after this, so I got to show you a picture of him.

That is our little Italian baby, and he was conceived in Italy, so at least and I are very Italian.

She's Sicilian, I'm Italian, you know?

And she always says, hey, Italians will feed you, but Sicilians kill you.

So um I've had to be very careful for 41 years because I've got a spicy wife, but I love her so much.

She's my very dear friend.

Listen, today I want to share with you out of the newest book that I've written, and it's not just a book.

This is my life message.

And it is entitled The Awe of God.

I it's a 42-chapter book.

It just came out in February.

I may get through four chapters today, but I want to say this.

I feel it is a prophetic word for our nation right now.

And I sense the responsibility and the urgency of bringing this to Gateway and to the nation of the United States.

I could be the best communicator on the planet, but if the Holy Spirit doesn't anoint these words, we're just gonna get information.

And so I want us to pray together.

This is why I'm having you stand.

I want us to pray together to believe that God will really impact us and change us today.

I believe that the Holy Spirit can change our life in one service.

How many of you believe that?

Then let's ask him to do it.

Put up the other hand and let's pray together.

Father, in the name of Jesus, thank you so much that you have made us your children.

You've called us sons and daughters.

You could have made us slaves and we would have been so much better off than where we were.

But today we are asking, Lord God, that you would come in and do what you love to do the most, and that is glorify Jesus in our midst.

Reveal him in a way like we've never ever seen him before.

As you do this, may we go from faith to faith, from glory to glory.

For I decree, your kingdom is come, your will shall be done in this place on earth as it is in heaven.

For this we give you all the glory, all the honor, the praise, and the thanksgiving.

And it's in Jesus' mighty, wonderful, majestic, holy, awesome name that we pray.

And everybody that agrees shouts! Come on, give him praise in advance for what he's gonna do.

Amen.

Amen.

You can be seated.

As I said, this is a life message, and it began 30 years ago.

I was visiting one of the best known evangelists on the planet in the federal penitentiary.

His trial had been broadcasted on CNN every single night.

Everybody knew his story.

He had read a book I wrote, asked me to come visit him in prison, and I will never forget it.

He walked into that penitentiary with his prison clothes on, and he hugged me and he hugged me and he hugged me and he wouldn't let me go.

And I remember he sat me down, he said, the first thing he said to me is, John, this prison wasn't God's judgment on my life, it was his mercy.

If I would have continued to live the way I was living, I would have ended up in hell forever.

And when he said that, it got my attention.

He said, John, Jesus delivered me from all the evil, and there was evil in my life, the first year of prison.

I'm in my fourth year now.

And so I listened to his story, and after about 20 minutes, when I got comfortable, I said, I want to know something.

At what point did you fall out of love with Jesus?

When did it happen?

How did it happen?

And he looked at me and he said, I didn't.

I said, Wait a minute, you committed adultery and I named the woman's name.

Seven years before you got arrested, you went through all this mail fraud and the trial.

What do you mean you love Jesus all the way through it?

He said, John, I did.

And then he looked at me and he said, John, I didn't fear God.

And it hit me like a sword right through my heart.

And he looked at me and he said, There are millions of Americans just like me.

They love Jesus, but they don't fear God.

That began my journey, and I discovered some things over 30 years that I want to share with you in just these few minutes.

Number one, Isaiah 33, verse 6 tells us that the fear of the Lord is God's treasure.

Isaiah 33:6

I want you to stop and think about those words.

How do you handle your treasures?

What do you do with treasure?

Do you just put them anywhere?

Do you put them in the front yard, in your junk drawer?

The fear of the Lord is God's treasure.

Isaiah verse 11 or chapter 11, verse 3 says that the fear of the Lord is Jesus' delight.

Moving to the New Testament, the Apostle Paul says that we work out our salvation with fear and trembling, not with love and kindness.

So let's take a step back here.

We are talking about right now God's treasure, Jesus' delight, and what matures our salvation.

Why aren't we talking more about this?

First of all, let me say this: the fear of the Lord has nothing to do with being scared of God.

It's actually more about being terrified of being away from God.

When Israel met with God on the mountain, when Moses brought them out of Egypt, the people ran away.

And they said, Moses, you talk to God.

We can't handle his presence.

And Moses made a statement to them in Exodus 20, 20, that I think every one of us should look at.

He said, Do not fear because God's come to test you.

What's the test?

To see if his fear is in you, so that you may not sin.

Wait a minute.

Do not fear because God's come to test you to see if his fear is in you.

Moses isn't contradicting himself, he is differentiating between being scared of God and the fear of the Lord.

There is a difference.

The person who is scared of God has something to hide.

What does Adam do when he sins against the Lord?

He hides from the presence of the Lord.

The person that fears God has nothing to hide.

That person's terrified of being away from God.

So if you want your first definition of the holy, healthy fear of God, it is to be terrified of being away from him.

So what is the fear of the Lord?

It is to honor, to tremble, to revere, to esteem, to respect, to value, to venerate him more than anything or anyone else.

When we fear God, we take on his heart.

We love what he loves and we hate what he hates.

You say, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute, John.

God hates?

Oh, yeah, God hates.

Oh, yes, he does.

Now, let me let me alleviate concerns.

Let me share with you what the legalist says.

The legalist is the one that says, I fear God, that's why I hate those sinners.

No, you have no fear of God at all.

Why?

Because God loves those sinners so much he sent Jesus to die for them.

What God hates is the sin that unmakes them.

So God hates what unmakes the object of his love.

So a person that says, I hate someone has no fear of God at all, because for God so loved the world.

Amen?

But we do hate what he hates.

If you look at Proverbs 8.13, it says, All who fear the Lord will hate, not dislike.

They will hate evil.

That is why I hate pride, arrogance, corruption, and a perverted speech.

I will never forget when I first started in ministry back in 1990, I was praying every single morning for two hours.

And yet, when I would stand up to preach, my words carried very little power.

It would be like boing, boing, boing, boing, bing, boing.

And I'm like one day frustrated in prayer, I said, Lord, why isn't there a stronger anointing on my life?

And the Holy Spirit spoke to me and he said, Because you tolerate sin.

I went, What?

He said, You tolerate sin, not only in your life, but in the lives of others.

And then he said, Son, I want you to read Hebrews 1.

So I go over to Hebrews 1 and I discover it's when God the Father inaugurates Jesus as King of the universe the day he's raised from the dead.

And God the Father looks at Jesus and makes the statement.

He says, Because you have loved righteousness, and the Holy Spirit said, Stop.

You love righteousness, so do all Christians in America.

He said, But I didn't stop there.

Because you have loved righteousness and hated sin or lawlessness.

Therefore, God, even your God, has anointed you beyond your companions.

And the Holy Spirit said to me, He said, Son, you learn to hate sin the way I hate sin, and you'll see the anointing increase upon your life.

So, what is the fear of the Lord?

You can break it down into two categories.

Number one, to tremble at his presence, and number two, to tremble at his word.

And I want to cover each of these quickly.

Number one, to treble at his presence.

God the Father makes this statement through Jeremiah.

He says, Do you not fear me?

Will you not tremble at my presence?

I will never forget back in 1997, I was asked to speak to a national conference in Brazil.

I was so excited, I'd never been to the nation of Brazil before.

I flew down there.

And I remember that Friday night, they drove me to the arena that the national conference was being held in.

There were well over 300,000 people in this church network.

And I'll never forget walking into that arena, the the place was literally packed.

There wasn't a seat open in the entire arena.

And I remember that was back in the days when they put pastors on the platform.

I'm so glad they don't do that anymore.

And and I you know you feel like a spectacle, right?

But I'm I'm facing everybody and I'm looking at this massive arena, thousands of Brazilians.

The worship team is amazing, some of the best in the country.

And yet, there is no presence of God in the building.

None.

Now you gotta realize there is his omnipresence and his manifest presence.

There was no manifest presence at all.

And I remember closing my eyes on that platform saying, wait a minute, Lord, this is a believer's conference.

Where's your presence?

And I opened my eyes, and when I did, I started noticing things I didn't notice before.

I saw people standing there with their arms crossed looking around like this.

I saw people with their hands in their pocket looking down, I saw women fumbling through their church purses, I saw people walking from the rafters way down to where the concession stands were all around in the arena, getting their tacos and going back to their seats.

They see somebody they know, high-fiving them and all this stuff.

I'm seeing people talking to each other, and I'm thinking, okay, this will stop.

But it doesn't.

They go through the whole worship set.

And now, because there's no music, you can hear a low mutter from all the people talking.

And one of the leaders, the national leaders of this organization, gets up and begins to read from the scripture.

And you're hearing a mutter from people talking.

And at that point, I'm going, Are you serious?

And the Holy Spirit speaks to me and said, Son, you're gonna have to address this.

I said, Yeah, but how?

How do I even get their attention?

So he gave me an idea.

I remember when they introduced me, I walked up to the podium and I just sat there and stared at everybody.

Didn't say a word.

Now, when you're the Friday night guest speaker at the national conference in Brazil and you are just staring at people for like 60 seconds, it will get everybody's attention.

It's like everybody stopped moving around, everybody stopped talking, and they're looking at me like, what are you doing?

You're just staring at us.

And when I realized every eye was on me in the place, this is the first words I ever spoke in public in Brazil.

I said, I have a question.

I said, You're sitting and talking to somebody sitting across the table from you, and the whole time you're talking to them, they got their arms crossed looking around, they got their hands in their pocket looking down as if they're disinterested, or they're whispering to somebody sitting beside them.

I said, Will you continue to talk to them?

No.

I said, I have been in this arena now for over an hour.

And I said, There's not an ounce of the presence of God in this place because God will never come into a place unless he's held with the utmost of respect.

Psalm 89, verse 7 says, God is to be greatly feared in the assembly of the saints and to be held in reverence by all those around him.

Psalms 89:7

I said, if the president of your nation would have walked on this platform tonight, you would have given him ten times the respect you gave the Holy Spirit.

I said, if Pele, your greatest soccer player, would have walked on this platform tonight, you would have been on the edge of your seats anticipating every word.

I said, You've given no respect to the Spirit of God.

And for 75 minutes I preached to him on the fear of the Lord.

When I was finished, I remember saying, Okay, everybody in this place, you say you're a believer, but you lack the fear of God and you're willing to repent, stand up.

75% of the arena immediately stands their feet.

When they did, the presence of God filled the arena.

I thought, finally.

People are weeping all over the arena.

I lead them in a sinner's not a sinner's prayer, I lead them in a prayer of repentance.

And I remember there's like a lull.

All of a sudden, after two or three minutes, there's a lull in the presence.

And the Holy Spirit speaks to me and He said, Son, I'm coming one more time.

I have no way of adequately describing this, but I'm gonna try.

But I want you to imagine you're standing near the end of a runway at DFW and a Boeing jet takes off in front of you.

That kind of a violent wind came blowing into that arena.

When it did, the people started screaming.

Now, can you imagine thousands of Brazilians screaming?

How loud that would be.

The wind was louder.

I remember I'm standing on that platform and I'm terrified.

Yet I'm drawn to the presence.

I know it sounds crazy.

I'm literally petrified, but yet I'm drawn.

And I remember I'm standing there going, Oh my God.

And the thought goes through my mind.

John Bevere, you say one wrong word, you make one wrong move, you're dead.

Now, would that have happened?

I don't know.

But there was a man and a wife in Acts chapter 5 that came into their regular church service to bring an offering, and they came in with irreverence in that presence, and they buried them that day.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

I knew irreverence would not be tolerated in this presence.

I'm standing there.

I had never experienced a presence like that, an authority like that.

And I remember that wind lasted for 90 seconds, it subsided.

And when it did, it left in its wake.

People collapsed all over the arena.

And I'm standing there going, What do I do?

What do I do?

What do I do?

And the Holy Spirit spoke and said, I'm through with you.

And I just looked at Lear, I said, It's all yours.

And so they they put me in the car, they put the national soloist and her husband in the car.

She screams, Did you hear the wind?

I said, Maybe it was a jet aircraft that flew too low over the arena.

She goes, What are you talking about?

And she starts getting upset with me.

Where her husband, who was quieter, calm quieted her and said, Sir, that wasn't a jet airplane.

I said, How do you know?

He said, Because there were security men and policemen all around the outside of the arena, they're union workers.

Most of them aren't even safe.

When the wind started blowing, they heard it from the outside and came running in to see what it was.

He said, I'm standing at the main soundboard, and the whole time the wind's blowing, the decimal meters are at zero.

Not one ounce of the sound came through our sound system.

I remember I said, Take me to my hotel room.

They're like, Do you want to go eat?

No, I want to go to my hotel room.

And I remember I'm on my hotel room till 1:30 in the morning worshiping.

We heard about this through emails and snail mail for 22 years after it happened.

In 2016, I go down to Guayania, Brazil, to speak to 12,000 pastors.

The first pastor I met, he looks at me and goes, I was in the building 20 years ago in 1997 when the wind blew.

My life has never been the same.

That's because when you encounter the awesome presence of God, you will never ever be the same.

God makes the statement in Leviticus 10, verse 3 By those who come near me, I must be regarded as holy.

Leviticus 10:3

Oswald Chambers makes the statement, he said, When we preach the love of God, there is a danger of forgetting that the Bible reveals first not the love of God, but the intense, blazing holiness of God with his love in the center of that holiness.

When Isaiah sees the Lord, he doesn't go, dude, there he is.

He's on his face and he cries out, Woe is me.

He's seeing angels that are shaking an arena that seats over a billion people beings shaking that arena from their cries of holy.

They're not crying out, love, love, love.

Is God love?

You better believe He's love.

He didn't have love, He is love.

They're not crying, faithful, faithful, faithful.

Is God faithful?

You better believe it.

They're crying out, holy, holy, holy.

I remember two years after Brazil, I was in the nation of Malaysia in Kuala Lumpur, the capital.

This was not an arena, this was an auditorium like this.

It was a national conference, it was jam-packed.

Again, that presence came in, but more powerful than Brazil.

The wind did not blow in this one, but the presence was even more powerful.

It lasted about five minutes when it was oh, when it when it lifted, the there were there were people collapsed all over the auditorium again.

And I remember the leader, I I again I asked the Lord, I said, What do I do?

He said, I'm through with you.

And I turned it over to the leader, and the leader said, You know, we had a song plan, we can't we can't end with the song.

He said, You can just stay here as long as you want.

And I remember I stayed about 15 minutes longer, and I'm walking out, and I get met by this couple from India.

They were students in the Bible school in Kuala Lumpur, and we just stared at each other.

I mean, what do you say?

And finally she broke the silence and she said, I feel so clean inside.

And I said, That's it.

That's what happened in Brazil.

I felt so clean when that presence came in.

That's what happened in California, that's what happened in North Carolina.

It's only happened like four or five times in my life.

And I remember going back to my hotel room that Friday night, and I thought, that's it, clean.

She nailed it.

I feel so clean in that presence.

The next morning, I'm getting ready to play basketball with the Bible school students in Malaysia, and the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, Son, read Psalm 19.

I have no idea what I'm gonna read.

So I read verse 1, verse 2, verse 3.

I get to verse 9, and look what I read.

The fear of the Lord is clean.

I went, Oh my gosh, there it is.

Now look at the next statement enduring forever.

And the Holy Spirit spoke to me in that hotel room that morning.

And he said, Son, Lucifer led worship right before my throne.

He beheld my glory, he was anointed to do so.

He did not fear me, he didn't endure fear.

Forever.

He said, A third of the angels surrounded my throne.

They beheld my glory.

They did not fear me.

They did not endure forever.

He said, Son, Adam and Eve walked in the presence of my glory in the garden.

They didn't fear me.

They didn't endure in the garden forever.

And he said, Son, every single created being who surrounds my throne forever and ever will have passed the test of the holy fear of God.

I remember after that thinking there are ministers that started in ministry.

They loved people, they were excited.

But they didn't finish.

They didn't endure.

The fear of the Lord is what gives us the enduring power.

If you look at Barna, they have done a study, and Barna has said in the last 23 years, over 20 million people have walked away from the faith in America.

They were practicing Christians and now they're professing agnostics, atheists, and spiritualists.

That's one out of every 14 Americans.

Could it be that because we have not preached the fear of the Lord, we have seen such a departure from the faith?

Paul said in 2 Thessalonians, before that day comes, there's going to be a great departure.

Hey, what he didn't write is that they wouldn't come back.

And I believe just as John the Baptist was raised up to go after the lost sheep of the house of Israel, I believe there is a group of men and women, young and old, that are going to go after the lost sheep in the church.

And I believe many of these 20 million are coming back.

The fear of the Lord is to tremble at his word.

When Israel was in the place of history where they were selectively obeying God.

Kind of like where America is right now.

God says to them at one point in Isaiah 66, you know, your lamb sacrifices, you know what they are like?

Pig's blood.

Offering me pig's blood.

Now you don't say that to a Jewish person.

But God did.

Because they were selectively obeying God.

When it worked in their schedule, they obeyed.

If they didn't want to, they just kind of ignored it.

And then God makes the statement, he said, but this is the one I'm going to look at.

And that word look means I'm going to pay close attention to this person.

And him who is poor and of a contrite spirit and who trembles at my word.

What does it mean to tremble at his word?

What does it mean?

It means we obey God instantly.

David makes a statement in Psalm 119.

He says, I will hurry to obey your commands.

You ever meet somebody who goes, Well, you know, the Lord's been dealing with me about this now for a few months?

And they laugh about it, right?

They're laughing about their lack of godly fear.

It means we obey him if it doesn't make sense.

Does it make sense to forgive somebody who has really hurt you?

Does it make sense to bless those who are cursing you?

Does it make sense to give to people who have stolen from you?

I could go on the rest of the evening.

It means we obey God even if it hurts.

You know Jesus obeyed the Father?

And Philippians 2 says, to the point of death?

Do you know that Peter wrote, as Christ suffered for us in the flesh, arm yourself with the same mind?

The religious person seeks out suffering to please the God little G it serves.

Christianity says, I'm going to obey God in a fallen culture, and because of it, I'm going to suffer.

It means we obey God even if we don't see a benefit.

In the United States, I think we have almost developed too many disciples that the only way you can get them to obey is by showing them the benefit.

If you pray, God will do this.

If you obey, God will do this.

If you give, God will do this.

Does God do this, this, and this?

You better believe it, but that can't be our motive because what if Esther would have had that motive?

She had nothing to gain and everything to lose, including her head.

But she obeyed God because she feared God.

It means we obey him to completion.

King Saul did 99.99% of what God asked him to do.

Yet God said he's disobeyed me.

That's what it means to fear the Lord.

We tremble at his word, which means we obey him instantly when we don't see a benefit, even if it hurts, if we don't, if it doesn't make sense, and all the way to completion.

Now let me share with you just for the next couple minutes the benefits of the fear of God.

In 30 years of studying this, I have discovered there are over 40 distinct promises that God makes only to those who fear Him.

First one, most important, is an intimate friendship with God.

Psalm 25, verse 14 says this friendship with the Lord is reserved for those who fear him.

Psalms 25:14

And with them he shares his secrets.

Why is that?

Because Proverbs chapter 1, verse 5, and Proverbs 1, verse 7 and 2, verse 5 tells us the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowing God intimately.

Proverbs 1:5 Proverbs 1:7

God says, friendship with me is reserved for those who fear me.

With them, I share my secrets.

Who do you share your secrets with?

Acquaintances or intimate close friends?

God's no different.

God says, I share my secrets with my intimate, close friends, and my intimate, close friends are those who fear me.

Who is the first one that's called the friend of God in the Bible?

Abraham.

Why is Abraham called the friend of God?

Because when he was old, God comes to him one night and says, Abe, yes, yes, Lord, yes.

Abe, you know your son that you love more than anything or anyone else?

The son that you waited for for 25 years that I promised you?

Yeah, Isaac.

I want you to go and sacrifice.

I want you to go on a three-day journey and sacrifice him for me.

Can you imagine?

There was nothing more important to Abraham, nothing, than Isaac.

And God just said, go sacrifice him.

Doesn't even give him a reason.

Doesn't say, if you sacrifice him, then I'll send my son.

He just says, go sacrifice him.

And you know what my Bible says?

Early the next morning.

Can you imagine that night?

I bet he didn't get any sleep.

But early the next morning, he's on his way.

Now God gives him a three-day journey.

Why does he do that?

Because he wants them to have time to think it over.

Maybe it's a little easier when you heard the booming voice of God the night before.

But what about two and a half days later when you haven't heard a thing from heaven?

And you're looking now at the mountain, you're going to put the most important person or thing to death in your life.

Just because God said do it and didn't give you a reason.

Abraham goes to the mountain, he builds the altar with his 13-year-old son.

Can you imagine what's going through his head?

I'm building the altar I'm about to put my son to death on.

Just because God asked me to do it.

And there's nothing more important to me.

Abraham puts Isaac on that altar, he ties him up, he lifts the knife, he's ready to put him to death.

The most important person or thing in his life, just because God said do it and didn't even give him a reason.

And all of a sudden an angel of the Lord appears and says, Abraham, stop.

Because now I know that you fear God.

How did the angel know that Abraham feared God?

Because he obeyed instantly.

Because he obeyed when it didn't make sense.

Because he obeyed when it hurt.

Because he obeyed when he didn't see a benefit.

And because he obeyed to completion.

Abraham puts down the knife, unties Isaac, lifts up his eyes, there's a ram caught in the thicket, and out of his spirit comes Jehovah! Jirah! What just happened?

God just revealed a facet of his personality to Abraham nobody had ever known before.

Because he's my friend.

Okay, some of you aren't getting this.

Okay.

All of you know me as John Bevere's speaker.

Some of you know me as John Bever friend.

There is a woman, and I showed you a picture of hers.

She knows me as John Bevere husband, John Bever best friend, John Bevere athlete, John Bever dad, John Bear G Daddy.

Can I say this?

None of you will ever know me as John Bevere husband.

That is a facet of my personality, it's reserved for only her.

God just revealed a facet of his personality to Abraham, nobody had ever known before.

Because he's my friend, because he fears me.

Now look at the relationship between God and Abraham.

It's amazing.

One day the Lord says, Should we do to Sodom and Gomorrah what we're planning on doing without first talking to our friend Abraham?

So the Lord comes down by the terra trees.

And he and Abe go and they walk over to a cliff and they're looking at the plains of Jordan.

And God goes, Abe, yes, yes.

We're thinking about blowing up these two cities over here.

What do you think?

Abraham goes, Sodom?

And the Lord goes, yeah, yeah, yeah.

And Gomorrah, what do you think?

Abraham goes, Oh, think, think.

My my nephew's over there, lots over there.

Okay, God, you wouldn't like blow up the cities if there were 50 righteous people, would you?

And the Lord goes, excellent idea.

Excellent idea.

Okay, we will not blow up the cities if there's 50 righteous people.

Glad we talked to our friend Abraham.

Abraham goes, what if there'sn't 50?

Okay, wait a minute, Lord.

What about if there's 45?

Would you blow them up if there's 45?

The Lord goes, another good idea.

Okay, we'll not blow up the cities if there's 45.

Now, Abraham talks them all the way down to 10.

He figures there's gotta be 10.

I mean, lots one, all he needs nine others.

But there isn't.

There isn't.

Now, now this is what's interesting.

The Bible says Sodom Gomorrah is buying, selling, trading, marrying, giving, and marriage.

What is all that in today's vernacular?

Life is great.

The economy is booming.

And if there is a God, he doesn't mind our lifestyle.

They're 24 hours away from being obliterated, and they're clueless.

That's not what's scary.

This is what's scary.

Lot.

Everybody say Lot, who the Bible calls righteous.

2 Peter chapter 2, righteous.

2 Peter 2 · chapter mention

Let me put it in today's terms.

Saved.

Born again, Christian.

Lot's 24 hours away from being obliterated.

And he's as clueless as Sodom.

It takes two messengers of mercy, two angels, because Abraham prayed, thank God Abraham prayed, to get him and his family out.

Now, here's two righteous men.

Let's just say it this way: two saved men, two born-again men.

One righteous man knows what God's going to do and how he's going to do it and helps him decide how he's going to do it.

The other righteous say, born-again man, is as clueless as the world.

Why?

This righteous say, born-again man, fears God, therefore he's the friend of God, therefore, God shares his secrets with him.

This righteous say, born again man is not the friend of God because he does not fear God, therefore he doesn't know the secrets of God.

You see the same thing with Moses in Israel.

You say, John, is this in the New Testament?

Absolutely.

Jesus makes a statement to his eleven, and look what he says.

You are my friends.

We write sermons about it, we write books about it, we sing songs about it, but we never finished the sentence.

Because there is a word if.

If is a condition.

The statement, you're my friends, is not unconditional, it's conditional.

What is the condition?

If you do whatever I command you.

There it is, the fear of the Lord trembling at his word.

What Jesus is saying here is not everybody is my friend, but he passionately desires everybody to be his intimate, close friend.

But we're the ones that determine that level of relationship.

That's why God calls the fear of the Lord his treasure.

And that's why Jesus delighted in it.

Did you get something out of this?

I want every head bowed, I want every eye closed.

Heavenly Father, I've preached what you've commanded me to preach.

And now, Lord, I'm asking you, draw men and women to your heart.

If you're in here and you'd say, John, I lack the fear of God.

As I've listened to you preach, I can see I'm one of those people that selectively obey when it's convenient.

See, ask yourself these questions.

How do you handle the Word of God?

Do you kind of make time for it if it just fits into your schedule?

When you know God is telling you to do something, do you ignore it?

If it's inconvenient?

These are all symptoms of a lack of godly fear.

If you're in here today and you'd say, you know what?

I want to be one of those that fear God.

And I want to be one of those that trust Jesus for my salvation.

Because you can't be saved except you give your life to Jesus.

If you say that's me, I want you to put up your hands because we want to pray for you.

Yes, hands going up all over.

Either one, I want to give my life to Jesus, or I want to walk in the holy fear of God.

Put up your hands high.

Wow, half the building has their hands up.

Let's pray this prayer.

Say this with me out loud.

Father in heaven, thank you for speaking to me.

Forgive me for living life my way, apart from you, my creator.

But today that ends.

This day, I give my spirit, soul, and body everything I am, everything I have to you, Jesus.

And today I'm asking you, baptize me in the Holy Spirit of the fear of the Lord.

I want to delight in the fear of the Lord the way Jesus delighted in it.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

God bless you.

Thanks for joining us today.

If you'd like to connect with us, text Connect to 71010 or visit gatewaypeople.com.

We hope you have a great week.