Matthew pt. 33 - Do Not Fear

So you can turn in your Bible to Matthew chapter 10, similar to

Matthew 10 · chapter mention

the portion of the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus has a long,

long period. If you have a Bible that puts

the the words of Jesus in red, then you see a lot of red text

here. And we're we're taking that in

chunks. We're taking it one piece at a

time. But it would do you really well

to read it all together to go from like Chapter 9, verse 35,

all the way through to chapter 10, verse 42, and you're getting

the whole context over and over and over and seeing what was the

the whole picture that he shared.

It didn't take him as long as it takes me.

We've understood that Jesus is a much better preacher.

So it takes me longer to say the things that he says and then to

to unpack the meaning behind that.

But the Holy Spirit's helping us.

It's going to be good. So here we have the context.

Jesus told them, hey, pray for the harvest.

Good news, boys, the Lord has answered your prayers.

The Father has. You are the workers for the

harvest. The harvest is ready.

And then he starts to give. He gives them authority.

He gives them his power and permission, he says.

Now you will be my ambassadors to go cast out demons, go heal

every disease. Go heal every affliction.

Go out and accomplish this work. Here's how you're going to do

it. Here's how you're going to trust

in me. You're going to heal the sick.

You're going to raise the dead. You're going to cleanse the

lepers. You're going to cast out demons,

Give it all the way freely, boys.

I've given it to you and I. That's my intention, to bless

the whole world through my church.

And then by the way, guys, whenever you go somewhere, if

they, if they reject you and they don't receive, you just

move on. No need to call down fire and

brimstone, he says. By the way, fire and brimstone

will be coming for them. It will actually be worse for

that village than it was Sodom and Gomorrah.

So Sodom and Gomorrah apparently will receive some mercy that the

villages who could have received the living Christ won't receive.

So it's not that Jesus has no judgment.

It's not that he has no wrath. It's just that he's saying

there's a time and a season. He is very patient.

He is very long-suffering. He wills that none should

perish. But he says your mission is not

to judge, is not to condemn them.

Your mission is to preach. If they don't receive it, move

on. So we made the application for

ourselves to understand, OK, I love people.

I'm My assumption is that if the harvest is ready, that is my

default assumption because Jesus said so.

Now if the harvest somehow shows me otherwise, then I say OK,

then I can just move on. I don't have to beat my head

against the wall. There's there are many persons

of peace who are ready for me to tell them the truth.

There are many humble hearts who are ready to receive the truth

shared from my heart of love. Maybe not with perfect language,

but with a heart that is genuinely caring for that

individual. So we knock the dust off of our

feet when we're not welcomed and we just continue to move on

because the harvest is ready. And then Jesus told us last

week, he says, I'm sending you out in these situations.

You're like sheep among wolves, so I want you to be wise as

serpents and harmless and as innocent.

Some translations say harmless. Really, the better translation

is innocent and as innocent as doves.

And then he says beware of men. We learned that that beware of

men means be aware, not be afraid.

And that's really what he's going to emphasize today,

because he tells them everything that's going to happen.

He says you're going to be flogged, you're going to be

killed, you're going to be taken to court.

All these things are going to happen for my name's sake.

They. He says, hey, if they do it to

me, they're going to do that and worse to you.

And now we come to verse 26. After he has just given those

those warnings and that heat here in verse 26 he says so have

No Fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be

revealed or hidden, that will not be known.

What I tell you in the dark, say in the light and what you hear

whispered proclaim on the housetops.

And do not fear those who kill the body, but cannot kill the

soul. Rather fear him who can destroy

both soul and body. In hell are not two sparrows

sold for a penny, and not one of them will fall to the ground

apart from your father. But even the hairs on your head

are all numbered. Fear not, therefore you are of

more value than many sparrows. So everyone who acknowledges me

before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who

is in heaven. But whoever denies me before

men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

Lord Jesus, fill us with courage this morning.

Don't let us be a fearful people.

Make us a bold people. Holy Spirit, fill us with

yourself. When we're filled with the Holy

Spirit, we will be bold. We will be bold witnesses no

matter what the consequence may be.

We're looking at the reward. We're not considering

consequences that the world could bring.

We look at the reward that our Father will bring to please you

as our greatest aim. It's our highest goal.

God, I pray that as your word is preached this morning would fill

your Saints with conviction. That it would fill them with

boldness. It would fill them with love.

Love for the harvest, love for their enemies, love for their

friends. Love for you.

That we would have the healthy fear of God, the fear of the

Lord, that is the beginning of wisdom, make us a wise, a

strong, a bold, a loving and a courageous church.

In Jesus name, Amen. Jesus purpose here is not to

scare anyone, but it is to put the reverential fear of God in

his disciples. He starts off by telling them to

not be afraid. So that's where we're going to

spend a lot of our time today emphasizing and reminding

ourselves why we shouldn't be afraid.

We've all felt fear. I felt fear.

I felt fear this week. You know, it's a spectrum,

right? There's like level 10 and

there's level one and there's everything in between.

And should I say this or should I not say that I felt fear even

in even in preparing this message, the Holy Spirit brought

something back up to me. It was about a week ago.

The Lord put it on my heart one morning to make a post on

Facebook. Something along the lines of,

you know, every loved one that that has ever passed away is

either in in heaven with King Jesus or they're in hell right

now. And then the Lord put that on my

heart. But I had a particular person in

mind on Facebook who I was afraid would be offended by it.

This this person just lost a loved one and and this person is

a family member. So I was, I was considering that

situation and I'm like the Lord and I wasn't intending to make

the post for them, but the Lord was like, hey, I want you to

make this post and I was going to go make it and I was like,

but what if this hurts them? And fear kept me from being

truthful? I was unloving because I wasn't

telling the true thing. It's a very basic Christian

doctrine, right? It's a very old, old thing, but

there's plenty of old and simple and true doctrines that are

under attack right now and that people aren't open to.

So then if you saw and yesterday, yesterday I repented,

I said, Lord, I'm so sorry that I didn't just share that simple

thing, but but I was. I was afraid that was cowardice

a week ago when I was like, I don't want anyone to take it

wrong. I don't want anyone to take that

as a a dig or a slam. But that's foolishness.

That's called niceness. Niceness is the greatest goal of

niceness is to never, ever, ever do anything that anyone would

disagree with. And niceness really is the the

chief doctrine of our age. To be nice is the most important

thing that the world would say you need to be nice.

And what do what do they mean when they say be nice?

They say, well, don't do anything that would bother me.

Well, that's really difficult, you know, Don't say anything

that would really bother me. Well, love is greater than nice.

Kind is greater than nice, Good is greater than nice.

Niceness is not our target. Niceness is not our goal.

Love is. So if someone's just lost a

loved one and they don't know where that person is and they're

like, well, that person probably wasn't a Christian and now

you're, you're throwing this in my face.

Well, I'm not responsible for their reaction to me.

And of course, that person hasn't said anything to me.

Time could still go on. Maybe they will, maybe they

won't. But that's that was where my

head was. Whether that was the enemy

influencing me or it was just my own flesh, that was my own

cowardice. That was my lack of love for the

for the Lord, not not walking in obedience to Him, and my lack of

love for people who needed to hear that.

Maybe Christians were emboldened by that by reading that and

their their own spines were stiffened, and maybe non

believers were reminded again. Who knows how the Lord used that

to minister. That's not my responsibility.

My responsibility is obedience. Were you obedient in that 711

yesterday? Were you obedient in your living

room? Were you obedient on the job

site? Were you obedient with your

social media? That's all you're responsible

for. Is obedience to the master, not

niceness, because culture will press this idea of niceness onto

you more and more and more. And of course, people don't get

killed for being nice. The church is not called to be

nice. We are called to be faithful, to

be true, to be bold, to be ambassadors for the king and his

Kingdom. To be nice means to be

agreeable. If I'm if, if niceness is my

target, then I will just be agreeable to a fault.

Chris could say, hey man, I want to go do this, but I really

don't want to do that. But more than anything, I'm

afraid that I will offend or upset Chris somehow.

So I go, yeah, that's what I want to do too.

Well, it's not what I want to do.

And it's OK that I tell Chris that Chris, I don't want to see

that movie. He's like, yeah, we should go

see it. I don't want to see it, man.

It looks stupid. Chris is like, come on, man,

let's go see it. We we can navigate that.

Our fellowship isn't severed just because there's a little

bit of friction, just because there's a little bit of

disagreement. But we also, sometimes we know

that fellowship will be severed when there's disagreement.

And again, that's not our responsibility.

Our responsibility is the obedience.

Our responsibility is speaking up.

Now, of course, there are all kinds of things that we can

cater to one another. There's plenty of times where

yes, Chris could say, hey, let's go see this movie.

I'm like, I don't really care, but I want to hang out with

Chris. So there's there's certain times

and places where agree where it is good to be agreeable, and

there's certain times and places where it isn't.

And we need the wisdom to know the difference.

But when it comes to sharing the truths of Jesus, agreeability is

not our goal. Kindness is seasoning our

language with salt. All of that is we want to

persuade men. We want to draw people in.

The scripture is not a baseball bat that we swing around.

The scripture is a healing balm that we bring to sinners who are

wounded, whether or not they know it, People who are lost,

whether or not they know it, it is a light that we shine.

So you need to understand persecution.

When persecution comes for the church, it never comes because

you were walking down the street just saying, I love Jesus and

people said let's get him. That's not how persecution is

working, particularly in our moment here in the West.

If you want to love Jesus and mind your own business, that

will be tolerated for now, for now.

Eventually, that comes to the place where it's not it.

As long as you're a naive Christian, you go, Oh well, they

do their thing, I'll do my thing.

You're naive. You don't realize that there are

two kingdoms, only two. One is light, one is darkness,

and they are at war. There is no neutral ground.

You're naive to believe so. And the Church, for decades has

put us into a very difficult situation in the West because

they naively believed that they could live in some sort of

neutral world. And there is no such thing.

They thought if they just voted correctly, whatever that means

at the ballot box, that they could just do their Sunday

worship thing and mind their own business.

Well, guess what? The enemy loved it.

And he said, I'll take a little more ground.

I'll take a little more ground. I'll take a little more ground.

Oh, in the name of tolerance. Don't be an intolerant bigot,

you dirty Christian. Oh, I'm sorry.

I didn't know. I didn't think I was that way.

Well, you are. Oh, OK.

I guess I'll back up again. I guess I'll back up again.

And now the church looks back over the Cliff and go.

How did we get here? We were cowards.

We were silent. We were deceived by wolves.

Wolves who said hey come to my house And we said OK, these guys

seem nice. My what big teeth you have So

persecution doesn't come because you say I love you, Jesus,

Persecution is going to come because you tell the truth.

That's why persecution is going to come.

One of the favorite accusations that you that's used against the

faithful Saints of our day is that you are a bigot.

That you are intolerant when you stand trial, whether it's a

literal trial in court someday or the OR just the trial of the

cultural court, the trial of cultural shame.

They're not going to say you're guilty of loving Jesus.

They're going to say you're guilty of hate.

That's what they're going to accuse you of.

You're hateful. How am I hateful?

Because you said a very plain and obvious biblical truth.

You said that Jesus is the only way to heaven.

You said that everybody's either going to heaven or everybody's

either going to hell. How dare you?

You're so hateful, you're so close minded.

Those are the accusations. There's such a harshness about

you or the claims that they'll make.

And you being a sincere and kind person.

If you're not wise, you'll go, Oh my goodness, well, surely

everyone's angry at me. Surely I must be wrong.

Well, I love the I love the humility there.

I love the I love the impulse to check yourself first.

But check with the master and see what the master says.

First. They'll say that you've

committed acts of verbal violence.

Listen to me. Every culture has blasphemy

laws, even if they're not on the books.

Every culture has blasphemy laws.

You mean like laws against speaking out against God?

Yes, but but it's because every culture has gods.

So our culture has blasphemy laws.

They might not be enforced by police officers, but they are

enforced by the court of society.

They're enforced by the court of social media.

They're enforced by the court of the break room or the HR

department. Blasphemy laws are real in every

culture. They exist across every culture

because every culture has gods that it worships.

Some of our culture's gods are are are called things like the

almighty woman's right to choose.

That's a God in our culture. It's a false God.

It's a deceptive name. It wants to hide A wickedness.

Another false God in our culture is a person's right to love

whoever they want. Just such good things right?

Who could oppose a woman's right to make a choice?

What kind of hateful bigot could you be?

Who could oppose a person's right to love whoever they want

to love? Only hateful bigot a wicked

person could hate something like that.

Because love is love, after all. Phrase, it says nothing and

means nothing. Love is love.

I guess that's technically true. Wall is wall.

Chair is chair. Love is love.

All right, these are the false gods of our age.

And if you speak against these gods, you're hateful, you're

evil, you're a bigot, you're cruel, and maybe worst of all,

you are intolerant. We won't spend time on the

hypocrisy and the stupidity of the intolerant people calling us

intolerant. Christians are the most tolerant

people in the world. We love our enemies, and our

enemies don't even understand it, because they're not like I'm

not their enemy. They're mine.

You're no one's enemy. You're to be no one's enemy.

But you will have enemies. And our enemies can't understand

this. They they're it's a foreign

concept to them. They don't understand that we

can simultaneously love them deeply and absolutely hate what

they stand for. Because they don't feel that way

about you. Because they can't.

Because they don't have the love of God shed abroad in their

hearts. So Christian love, the love of

God that's been poured out in your heart, is a supernatural

miracle. That's why you can

simultaneously feel rage towards the wickedness of sin.

And at the same time, you love that person deeply.

But they they can't always. They're they're they're

wondering, how are you reconciling that?

And you're going. That's a crazy question.

Like welcome to the love of God. Welcome, welcome to the Kingdom,

love. I care for you.

I want the best for you. Which is why I will also tell

you the truth. This is how persecution will

come for you and your day and age, and in the coming

generations. It may change, it may worsen,

but for now, it's not you singing songs to Jesus and

people just hating you, but it's that you tell the truth.

What are you supposed to do? You're supposed to fear not.

That's why Jesus says it three times.

Fear not. Like Moses when he sends the 12

spies in to to look out over the promised land.

The 12 spies going to the promised land, they're supposed

to, hey, spy it out. The Lord says he's given us the

land. Well, 10 spies come back and

they say we're like grasshoppers in the eyes of these people.

They're giants in the land. We cannot take the land.

And all of Israel is filled with fear and doubt.

And they doubted the word of the Lord.

And the Bible says that the 10 spies who brought that report,

they brought an evil report. An evil report.

Why? Because it doubted God, and it

was fearful. It looked at the circumstances,

it looked at the culture. It looked at we can't do it.

We're not able. But Joshua and Caleb came back.

They're excited, they're thrilled.

They're jumping. They're going, hey, everybody,

Everybody's all weepy. Oh, it's terrible.

It's terrible. Guys, guys, guys, we're well

able to take the land. We are like giants and they're

like grasshoppers. The Lord has given us the land.

It is a land flowing with milk and honey.

But Israel said no, no, we can't do it.

We can't do it. Why?

Fear. Cowardice.

It's a huge, huge problem. We don't talk about it enough.

I don't talk about it enough. We want to be like Joshua and

Caleb, who trusts the Lord. So that's what it looks like at

the moment when people are destroying their lives with sin.

Most of the time, Christians are afraid of people and they lack

the love that would have them speak the truth.

Because it's love that has you speak truth.

It's love for a person. It's faith in God and it's fear

of the Lord, and it's looking forward to the eternal reward.

It's wanting to please Jesus instead of wanting to please

man. The church loses its saltiness.

That's our preserving power. The bright church grows dim.

That's our revealing power. And what's worse is that we

often pat ourselves on the back in the process, saying I'm doing

the nice thing, I'm doing the nice thing.

I'm not like that street preacher.

He needs to build a relationship and he needs to take 55 years.

And you know all these other things.

There's plenty of relationships where you take your time and we

walk in wisdom. But Jesus goes on to say here,

we're going to look at it, preach it from the rooftop, from

the rooftop. So what rooftop has the Lord

given you in your life? What opportunity do you have to

yell at out to broadcast the truth that the Lord is revealing

to you? Y'all got me getting ahead of

myself, stay here, tricking me, trying to speed me along.

So what are you going to do? What does this look like in your

context, in your situation with the people in your life?

Are you ever going to tell your friend that he needs to marry

his girlfriend? Are you ever going to tell your

sister that she needs to care better for her children?

Most importantly, are you ever going to tell them or anyone the

good news that Jesus will save them from all their sin and give

them a new life, a new heart, and send the Holy Spirit to live

in them and lead them just like he did for you?

Or are you being nice? Are you being nice as the sin of

fornication continues to destroy your friend and his girlfriend's

life? Are you being nice to your

nieces and nephews who lack the nurture and care of an attentive

mother? Are you being nice to the non

believer who is on their way to hell?

Because, well, you know, they might not like you if you tell

them about Jesus. That's all bondage, that's all

slavery, That's all fear of man. It's a snare.

It's a trap. It's a pit.

It's a misery, It's a sin. And we have all felt fear.

Jesus teaches us here how to fear, and he teaches us who to

fear. And when we get that right, we

live in freedom instead of in bondage.

And the harvest, which is ready, can then be brought in.

So look at verse 26. You are listening slow.

We're only still in verse 26, like, man, where is this one

going? So I have No Fear of them.

That's what he starts with. So I have No Fear of them.

Them who's that referred to All the people who was just talking

about the people who are going to do all the terrible things to

you have No Fear of them, he says.

The people who want you to remain silent about Jesus and

about his reign, because that's the point.

You're going to talk about his reign, not just this person, but

you're going to obey what he tells us later as well in

Matthew 28. Teach them to obey everything I

have commanded you. Teach the world to obey

everything Jesus has commanded us.

But we often are so naive and we take our cues from the world and

they go. I don't believe that way.

I feel like I know and you should, which is why I'm here.

Well, stop, because I won't. Well, sometimes I got to weigh

that, and I've got to measure that.

Is it time to move on? Is it time to knock the dust off

my feet? But it's never time to shut up.

It's just it's just time to determine which field I'm

supposed to be in. If this field isn't quite

receptive of me, it's not my responsibility.

My responsibility is just to find the next field.

Lord, what's the next field you're leading me to?

My mission is that I'm never commanded to just shut up.

I'm commanded to just move on. The people who will say that

you're judgmental have No Fear of them.

The people who will say mind your own business, have No Fear

of them. The people who will say you're

pushing your religion on them have No Fear of them.

The people who will leave you mean comments on your social

media posts, Have No Fear of them.

Love them and fear God. I want to go to Jeremiah.

You can go there with me if you'd like.

I'm going to go to Jeremiah chapter one Old Testament

Isaiah, Jeremiah. Jeremiah was a prophet of God.

Jeremiah knows all about preaching, preaching, preaching

and being hated, hated, hated, being rejected, being rejected,

being rejected. Jeremiah is known as the weeping

prophet weeping. He was probably very lonely and

he had a long ministry with not a lot of fruit to show for it in

his time. And in his ministry there was

some, but a lot of times he just constantly just sees the people

of Israel rebelling against God. But this is his calling.

This is when the Lord first calls Jeremiah into ministry.

We know that Jeremiah probably was young, but we don't know

what young necessarily means. So we're going to look in

Jeremiah chapter one, verses 4 through 10.

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Before I formed you

in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I

consecrated you. I appointed you a prophet to the

nations. Then I said, I, Lord God,

behold, I do not know how to speak, for I'm only a youth.

But the Lord said to me, do not say I'm only a youth.

For to who? To all whom I send you, you

shall go. Whatever I command you, you

shall speak. Do not be afraid of them, for I

am with you to deliver you, declares the Lord.

Then the Lord put out his hand and touched my mouth, and the

Lord said to me, Behold, I have put my words in your mouth.

See, I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms.

To pluck up and to break down, to destroy and to overthrow, to

build and to plant is not so different from your calling in

mine. We want to destroy the Kingdom

of the devil. We want to overthrow and destroy

it completely, thoroughly, and totally.

We want the spirit of Antichrist to be destroyed.

We want every single square inch that already belongs to Jesus to

bring glory to Jesus. We want every part of society

and every person to obey Jesus. Will we force them to do so?

No. No, we're not like them.

We will preach, we will teach. We will love.

We will encourage, We will persuade.

We will draw. But we can't do that if we are

afraid of them. So who is Jeremiah supposed to

fear? Well, he's supposed to fear the

same one that we're supposed to fear.

Look ahead. Verses 17 and 19 there in

Jeremiah one, he says, But you dress yourself for work.

Arise and say to them everything that I command you.

Do not be dismayed by them, lest I dismay you before them.

And behold, today I make you this day a fortified city, an

iron pillar and bronze walls against the whole land, against

the kings of Judah, its officials, its priests, and the

people of the land. They will fight against you, but

they shall not prevail against you.

For I am with you, declares the Lord to deliver you.

So Jeremiah is commanded and told to tell the truth.

Tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

And he's told to fear God. That is his motive.

He says if you're terrified before them, I will terrify you.

Before them is what another translation says.

Jeremiah, obey me. I'm with you.

He encourages him in the beginning, and he brings another

warning, similar to what Jesus does with us.

Encouragement. Don't deny me.

Don't deny me because there is a day of judgement.

Don't deny me before men, or I will deny you before my father,

Jesus. That's not very nice.

No, it's not. But he's very good.

He's very good. He's very gracious.

He loves you more than you love you.

He's already died for you to prove it.

That's the one that we're supposed to fear.

That's the one that we're supposed to please fear God and

you won't fear anything else, is the point.

When we think about Judgment Day, we're not afraid of the

judgment of men. And that's the motive that Jesus

brings to us. He's saying, look ahead to your

reward, look ahead to what's coming, let that motivate you

and encourage you. For today, Last week, I was

thinking about temporary things. I was thinking about what it

could cost me, what it could mean for my discomfort and my

and my close relationships. How would that impact me?

Instead of what would it mean what?

What might have happened, What ministry might have needed to

take place even in the moment when I was supposed to post it

last week? Oh, brother, don't beat

yourself. I'm not beating myself up.

But I'm honest about reality. I'm forgiven by the grace of

God, but I'm still honest about consequences.

And life has consequences and disobedience has consequences.

Well, I don't want to. Don't get in shame and

condemnation. There is none.

There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

And yet, if I am silent when I should speak, it meant something

for someone. It meant something for someone

and love for them. And fear of God will cause me to

do what's right instead of my own comfort.

Well, don't kid yourself, Joe Michael.

You're worried about your comfort right now.

You're thinking about what it would mean for you.

Your comfort or your discomfort is your priority.

That is your barrier. It's fear.

It's cowardice. It's right to name it so that

you can then crucify it. Welcome to the Christian life.

Take up your cross. It's Sunday.

We'll do it again tomorrow and Monday.

We'll do it again on Tuesday. Man.

It's like this flesh. It just keeps rising up.

Yep, every day. Pick it up again.

Kill it all over again. There will be new opportunities.

When you fear God, you won't fear the judgment of men.

Jesus says it so. Well, all your enemies can do is

kill you. Perfect.

I love his logic. When you realize how powerless

they are, all you can do is kill me.

Then you're free because fear is the only real weapon that your

enemies have. And when you're no longer afraid

of men, you cannot be silenced and you cannot be defeated.

Defeat would just look like cowardice.

By the way, you're not responsible for fruit, you're

responsible for obedience. To tell the truth.

Jesus also says here that fear of hell is a motivator.

Hell is real, and you should believe in it because Jesus

does. God created hell.

Jesus is in charge of hell. The devil isn't in charge of

hell. The devil's not sitting on a

throne in hell saying punish them this way, punish them that

way. God created hell and God's

enemies will be in hell, including Satan and his demons.

They're not running the show. They're not in charge of

torment. They themselves will be

tormented and the smoke of their burning will go up.

All of God's enemies will go up forever and ever and ever, for

all eternity. You should believe in hell.

We don't all go to a better place when we die.

Only people who have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus

Christ of Nazareth go to a better place when they die.

And Paul, this was part of his motivation in his ministry in

2nd Corinthians 511 he says knowing the terror of the Lord,

knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men.

Then he talks about that is that is the purpose.

That is why we were so motivated in the ministry of

reconciliation. Well, they don't really believe

in hell, do you? Well, they don't really believe

that, do you? I didn't ask what they believed.

They can believe when they hear the word of God.

Have faith and confidence in the foolishness of preaching.

That's what the Bible calls it. The the foolishness air quotes

around it. The Lord says it's not actually

foolish, it is my supernatural plan.

Have faith and confidence in the word of God.

So even the word of God in your mouth is powerful when you

declare it to someone. Faith travels with the word of

God. Whatever you may say, whatever

you would encourage someone, whatever obedience you would

encourage that friend or loved one or Co worker.

And you say, hey, you know, this really would be better.

I know, I know you've said this, I know you've said that, but I

want to encourage you and tell you this is really the best way

to do that. This is actually what God says.

When you communicate the word of God along with the word of God

travels faith. Faith is riding shotgun.

And in that moment they have the ability to believe because the

word of God brings faith. You're not responsible with what

they do with that faith. But to them is given a measure

of faith and they can say, they can harden up and say no, you're

not getting that seed in here. Or they can go, wow, that was

like oil and wine. That was ministry.

That was the healing balm. That was the direction that I

needed you. Tell your friend.

Hey, man, you didn't marry that girl.

How do you. How long you don't live with her

before you marry her? He's oh, man, I don't know.

I can't browser. You didn't marry that woman.

That's what God wants. It's the right thing to do.

What Y'all doing isn't right. I know it, man.

You're right. You're telling the truth.

You're bringing conviction. You're teaching people to obey

everything that God has commanded you.

Why? Because you love them.

You want what's best for them. And you actually believe that

God's ways are best. Well, Jim Michael, they don't

believe that way. I know.

And they should. And you are the ambassador who's

there to bring that encouragement, to bring that

correction. Why?

Because you're high and mighty? Because you're high and lifted

up? No, because you're rescued and

you want to see other people walk in.

In a minimum, of course, we want to see people walking.

Kingdom Principles. Marrying your girlfriend who

you're living with, does not secure your eternity.

And yet still one thing is better than the other.

And of course we want to bring people all the way into the

Kingdom, but Kingdom ways are a part of that.

Knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade men Jesus goes on in

verse 26, for nothing is covered, that will not be

revealed, nothing is hidden that will not be known.

He's saying I will expose them in their plans.

Don't be afraid of the people who oppose you.

I will expose here he's talking about people really with

malicious intent. Not just the passive person

who's a little bit offended by you and they move on with their

life, but true enemies who want your downfall, he says.

Don't worry, I'll expose them. You will be kept even in death.

You will be safe with the Lord. Fear not.

Remember, in the book of Esther Mordecai and Haman, Haman is

preparing to kill Mordecai. Haman builds the gallows.

Was it 50 feet? It's been a while since I read

it. 75 feet, 75 feet gallows. He wants to hang.

He wants to hang this Jew high and show everybody and he wants

to kill this guy. And the Lord exposes Haman's

plan and the Lord reveals Haman's plan.

And finally, guess who hangs on the gallows?

Haman. He built his own gallows and the

Lord said perfect build a taller buddy.

God opposes the proud. He gives grace to the humble and

Haman tasted that deeply. They told did they hang him on

or they impaling on him. OK, I was going to say I was

like, yeah I was like wait a second, didn't we do more

because I remember the king, they they when the king found

out about it he said what did it tell me what he's done?

He said Also also my Lord, just so you know he built a 75 foot

gallows and he says hang him and then impale him.

I guess after like impale a rod so you get put on the tip of the

spear and you over time this is the idea that Jesus is bringing

here. Not a pleasant way to go.

Whatever happens in whatever happens, I will expose their

plans. I will deal with it.

I am the judge. I will make it right.

I will keep you. You can be trust.

You can. You can be Know that you're

safe. You will be kept like Mordecai.

Verse 27. Now we're making progress.

What I tell you in the dark, say in the light and what you hear

whispered. Proclaim it on the housetops.

So they had flat roofs. And a lot of times people would

share messages from the rooftop. You would climb up on your

rooftop. A lot of times that roof would

have a railing. If you spend any time on your

roof, it had to have a railing. But they would proclaim messages

from the rooftop. That was a place to proclaim.

That was Twitter, that was Facebook, that was Instagram.

That was a platform. That was the news channel.

Hey, everybody, here's what's going on.

Here's what the news is. Jesus says what you hear, what

you hear from me in the dark. Proclaim it on the rooftop.

This implies that you've got to be with the Lord in private so

that you can even then say anything in public.

Have you been with the Lord in private?

Because if not, you're going to feel like, What am I supposed to

say? What am I supposed to say?

What am I supposed to say? That's the common question of

the Saint who's not really spending time with the Lord in

private. Oh, that stings.

OK, well, let it sting. And now fix it.

God loves you. Get with the Lord, spend time in

his word, and you're going to have things come up out of you.

That Facebook post that the Lord told me to write, that didn't

come from. I was just minding my own

business, doing nothing. I was in the word and just, man,

I'm supposed to share that. I'm supposed to say that.

That happens a lot with me. Part of that's probably in my

function as your pastor. And like, man, that's that's for

your Saints, but for all of us. Jesus is telling all of his

disciples whatever I whisper to you, what is the Lord whispered

to you? What thing is He shared with

you? It's not just for you, that

small revelation. Well, only the gospel.

Only the gospel. Only the message of redemption.

That's the only thing we're supposed to preach.

That's not true. You're supposed to teach

everything that he's commanded you, Even the things he

whispered to you in secret. Well, the Lord showed it to me

like this. It doesn't mean we take every

secondary and tertiary conviction that we have and

pounded on to other people. But these things are not to be

silent. We're supposed to communicate

these things publicly. So assuming you've been with the

Lord in private, that you've put your word in His heart, he's

giving you revelation, and you actually have something to

share, every doctrine should be proclaimed publicly.

Every doctrine doctrine should be proclaimed publicly.

And again, nice Christians who go, no, no, no, just tell people

Jesus died for their sins and that's it.

And I say, friend, they don't know what sins are, They don't

know what sins are they. They still call it a woman's

right to choose. You know that, right?

So when we tell them Jesus died for their sins, they just go.

Thanks, Jesus. That was cool.

Until you name the thing. Well, that's what's going to

make them mad. That's not my responsibility.

But I have to tell them the truth and they so we have to

name sins. Joe Michael, why are you picking

on those two? I'm gods of our age we want to

tear down. If you want to be faithful in

the moment that you live in, you go after the gods that are being

worshipped in your moment, not the ones that nobody cares

about. Oh, that's an easy one.

Everybody hates racism. Everybody.

Racism is bad. We could say it a bazillion

times, and nobody's going to throw you in a prison cell for

it. Racism is foolish, it's stupid

and it's wicked. The Bible.

Teaches that. And culture goes, Amen.

We go, Thanks. Now I'm at the cool kid table.

No, you're not. The church is the cool kid

table. The cool kid table is the table

that Jesus sits at the head of. So.

You have to tell people what? Sin is you have to communicate

the truth. When they say I'm free to love

whoever I want, you go. Well let me just tell you that

Jesus died for your sins and like, fine, but this isn't a

sin. You go.

You're responsible. You're responsible to tell the

truth. God does the work in people's

hearts through the ministry of the Holy Spirit, through the

word of God. That is sharper than A2 edged

sword that is able to divide between the soul and the Spirit.

Have faith in the word of God. Have faith in the Word of God,

even in your own mouth, in your own ministry.

Have confidence not in you, but in the Lord man.

This is just are you? Is it that simple?

It is. It is.

Is it that simple that you just say it?

Yeah. It's not you.

It's not you. As long as you're thinking that

you've got to do it, you're going to feel like it's.

There's got to be more to it than this.

Yes. If it was on you, we'd have to

get really elaborate with our plans.

We'd have to be really clever with our strategies.

But thank God it's not dependent upon you and I and our delivery.

It's our humility. And the Lord will take the

foolishness of your preaching. He will take the foolishness of

my preaching, and he will bring clarity, hope, and light into

the world, because God so loved the world that he sent his only

Son to save them from sins that have to be named, from false

gods that have to be called down.

Verse 29 through 30. 1. Are not two sparrows sold?

For a penny, and not one of them will fall to the ground apart

from your father. But even the hairs on your head

are all numbered. Fear not.

Again, fear not. Therefore you are of more value

than many sparrows. God cares for the birds that.

Have little worth. He says like they're they're

not. Worth much to you guys.

These birds y'all sell two of them for a penny and they're

like, yeah, we use them all the time.

Food, sacrifice, you name it. Like they're just a part of our

culture. You see them in the market, no

big deal. Their lives aren't valuable, he

says. Well, actually they are to the

father. The father pays attention to the

sparrows. He sees them all, and he knows

when one of them falls off the branch and dies.

They go. Well, we hadn't thought.

About that before and he goes, and you're worth more than all

the sparrows of the world. Your father knows every hair on

your head. As a kid I used to just think

that was amazing. Why does God care so much about

the hairs on my head? I kind of missed the point.

The point is, he knows you and loves you deeply and personally

and cares about all the details of your life.

Does he literally know all the hairs on your head?

Well, yes, literally he does. But also, more importantly, he

loves it and cares about you completely and everything about

your life. That's the comfort he goes.

So you're not forgotten, he says.

You're not. You're not sheep sent among

wolves and just ignored by your shepherd.

You're sheep sent among wolves and your love deeply and

personally and tenderly. And he says, and he also reminds

us, remember, I went first. I've done it.

I've overcome the world and I've done this first.

He's faced everything that you face.

He's felt everything that you feel and thankfully he did it

without sin. Even the hairs on your head are

numbers. If his eyes on the Sparrow, you

know he watches you. Everybody say fear not fear.

Not now, verse 32. So.

Everyone who acknowledges. Me before men, I also will

acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven.

But whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my

Father who is in heaven. He comforted.

And now he warns again. Be faithful to me, I take it.

Very. Seriously, that was his

accusation over and over and over against Israel, He says

you're an adulterous. He says you're an adulterous

wife. I'm a good and faithful husband,

and you have been an adulterous wife over and over.

You run around on me, you run around on me.

You run around on me. He takes it seriously.

And he says to his church, be faithful to me.

I am faithful to you. I am faithful to you.

Be faithful to me. I've already proven my

faithfulness. I've already died for you.

It's not AI would die for you. All of us husbands, we have to

say, hey baby, I would die for you.

And she's like, I hope so. I sure hope so.

Jesus says I did it. I've already done it.

I've already pulled you out of the.

I've already saved you from the dragon.

You've already been rescued from the castle, My church, my bride.

You're with me now. I've proven it.

I've given it. If you ever forget, Look at the

wounds in my hands and my feet. And I would do it again if I had

to be faithful to me. What an amazing moment.

When we stand. Before the Father.

And Jesus claims you as his faithful servant to the Father,

Father says and and Jesus says He's mine.

She's mine. I know his name.

It's written right here, Father. I know her name.

It's written right here on the palm of my hand.

He is the apple of my eye. She's the apple of my eye.

And what an ultimate horror. If he doesn't say that, if he

says I never knew you, or if he says no, they denied me, so I

deny them. We'll close in Revelation 21.

Fear not. Fear not.

Fear not revelation. 21. Verses one through 8.

Revelation is the last book of the Bible.

Not to be confused with maps, little preacher joke there for

you. Then I saw a new heaven and.

A new Earth for the 1st heaven and the first earth had passed

away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, new

Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a

bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from

the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with

man. Praise God.

He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God

himself will be with them as their God.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall

be no more. Neither shall there be mourning,

nor crying, nor pain anymore, For the former things have

passed away. And he who was seated on the.

Throne said, Behold, I am making all things new.

Also he said, write this down, for these words are trustworthy

and true. And he said to me, it is done.

I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end To the

thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life

without payment. The one who conquers will have

this heritage, and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

That is your heritage. That is what you have to look

forward to. All of the reward, all of the

pleasure of your master, all of King Jesus's delight being

pointed at you, saying well done.

Drink deeply, eat from the tree of life.

It's here for you. Now it is revealed to you now

the leaves of the tree are the healing for the nations.

Enjoy it. He won't say you earned it.

He'll say Enjoy it. I earned it, enjoy it.

It costs me everything. And I want you to delight in it

because I delight in you. Why?

Welcome to the love of God. It doesn't make sense.

It doesn't reconcile. You can't make it make sense.

And yet this is the reality. But Jesus being Jesus, not being

a nice guy, but being a good God goes on in verse 8.

But As for the cowardly, the faithless, the detestable?

As for murderers, the sexually immoral, sorcerers, that's

witchcraft. That's a broad category.

Idolaters and all liars, their portion will be in the lake that

burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death, both

And two choices. Fear not.

Fear not, you're loved. God cares about the birds, and

you're worth much more than many, many birds.

Pick your favorite critter, you're.

Worth more than that. God loves you.

God strengthens you. God is for you.

God has blessed you. God gives you the strength.

Where am I supposed to get this power from now?

God make me courageous. That's the prayer to pray.

Holy Spirit fill me. When the Holy Spirit fills,

boldness comes. Boldness is an automatic fruit

of being filled with the Holy Spirit.

I thought tongues. Was well tongues.

Is good too. We want to pray in tongues.

We want to speak in tongues. And also every time people are

filled with the Spirit, you see boldness come out there.

They were filled with the Spirit and they spoke.

Look all through Acts, they were filled with the Spirit and they

spoke. When you're filled with the

Spirit, you speak. When you're filled with the

Spirit, you speak. God fill us with your spirit.

Fill your church this morning.