Gospel—John Kaiser
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Good evening, this is a better evening than many appreciate.
So often people say to me, have a good day.
And sometimes I've said to them, I'm having a good day and so are you.
They say, how do you know?
And I say every day outside hell is a good day.
And they're not. That's not what they're expecting, but it's true.
Every day outside hell is a good day. So the man of this world has a good day every day.
In that respect.
But how about tomorrow?
Are you ready?
To meet God.
Let's sing hymn #100 Excuse me?
#18 I was going to say 118. I haven't. I've had some 118 on my mind lately. And some excuse me, hymn #18.
God loved the world so tenderly.
His only son. He gave that all who in his name believe.
Its wonders power will save.
God loved the world.
It is my little fault will stand.
All the way up.
It's my name.
If I never said another word this evening.
You've already heard the gospel.
You've already heard it twice.
For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, of whosoever believed in him should not perish, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
You know that word perish. I heard that I learned this verse John 316 when I was very young.
And I never understood what the word perish meant until I probably got into my teens that I knew it was bad if there's something God wanted to save me from.
I knew it was bad because I knew he was good. God so loved the world.
That he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believe him should not perish.
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Because you see.
All sinners, and that means all of us are naturally in danger of perishing. Passing eternally ruined into Satan's help. P/E RISH passing eternally ruined into Satan's health.
Now you've heard the gospel, let's sing the third verse.
You notice that I'm wearing glasses I don't see very well.
But there's someone here tonight.
Who sees everything?
He sees into your heart. He sees into your past.
He sees into your feelings. He sees into your future.
And that's the person you have to answer to. There I mentioned it.
I already told you what my subject is going to be tonight.
Maybe you didn't catch it.
Turn to Genesis chapter one. Genesis, Excuse me, Genesis chapter 3. Genesis is the book of beginnings.
And so we're going to go back to the beginning and.
We're going to read about something that is very common today.
But we're going to go back to the beginning. There's a lot of firsts in the book of Genesis. Genesis chapter 3. This is the book of the generations. Excuse me, I've got chapter 5 there. Genesis chapter 3. Now the serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made.
And he said to the woman, Yeah, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden? And the woman said to the serpent, We may eat of the fruit of the trees of the garden. But the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, Ye shall not eat of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die.
And the serpent said to the woman, Ye shall not surely die, for God doth know that in the day you eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened.
And you shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.
And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave also to her husband with her and heated heat. And the eyes of them both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together, and made themselves aprons.
And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool the day and Adams with.
And his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee thou was naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee, Thou shouldst not eat? And the man said.
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Whom thou gave us to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat. And the Lord God said unto the woman, What is this thou hast done? And the woman said, The serpent beguiled me, and I did eat.
Now, very often in preaching the gospel, people focus on the first few verses that we read.
I want to focus on.
Adams actions after he sinned. You notice it says Adam and Eve they made themselves.
Aprons of fig leaves.
That's the first mentioned human invention.
Not very impressive. They made themselves aprons of fig leaves.
And yet somehow they knew that those fig leaves.
Didn't hide them from God because it says Adam says I heard.
Thy voice.
In the garden and I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself naked even after he put the fig leaves on. Why?
Because he knew he still wasn't fit for God's presence. The fig leaves were symbolic, a symbolic recognition of his need, but that's all they were.
And, you know, people are all the time putting out fig leaves these days. They have all kinds of things they do that they think somehow cope with their situation, and they don't have God's solution. So Adam here, Adam and Eve, they put on fig leaves and then they hid themselves from God. And you know, that's what people have been doing.
For centuries. For thousands of years.
They do a little something to recognize their need.
I came up with some little religion or something else. Then they hide from God. It's been said that people are seeking God. People will tell you I'm seeking God, but they don't go to the word of God to find him. They don't get on their knees and cry out to him.
When a person seeks God, he finds them. God is not hard to find. Romans chapter one tells us that we don't have time to go there.
I'll tell you why in a few minutes. But people.
In general, the natural man seeks for God the way a thief looks for a policeman.
He's really trying to avoid God. He's trying to find something that satisfies his need for a God.
Without having God himself. And you know there's no substitute for God. Don't waste your life looking for a substitute for God. God made you for himself. The Bible tells us that. And nothing else will ever satisfy you. Nothing. So Adam here, he hid himself. He heard God's voice. If he really wanted God, why didn't he run out there?
He was afraid, he knew he wasn't fit to be in the presence of God. Fig leaves or not, he still knew he was naked. You see, when Adam sinned.
He got not only a knowledge of good and evil.
He got an increased knowledge of good, increased appreciation of good, because, you see, good does contrast with evil.
But he got a knowledge of evil, he got a conscience, and everyone of us here has a conscience tonight. A knowledge of the word conscience means with knowledge, knowledge of sin. And with that conscience came something else.
Fear.
Fear. And that is the subject that's on my heart tonight I want to talk about.
Fear.
It's a very common thing these days. People are very afraid.
Adam was afraid.
Fear came into the world with sin.
Now there are good kinds of fear. Fear is not always bad.
But it didn't. It wasn't here in the world before sin.
It's a there's this legitimate fear of death, there's a legitimate fear of God, there's a legitimate fear of fire, legitimate fear of illness.
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But this fear mastered.
Adam and Eve and they hid themselves from God. He heard God's voice and he was afraid.
I hope there's no one here tonight like that. You have no reason to fear God. God created Adam as an object of his love, and God still loved Adam. God created Eve for Adam.
As a symbol of his love. And God still loved Eve, and God loves you tonight.
But you see, there was something else that accompanied that created that fear, and that was guilt.
Fear and guilt go together.
And guilt itself is not always a bad thing in the one sense that if I am guilty, I should know it, know that I'm guilty.
The guilt is linked with sin.
And.
That is what separates us from God, and that was ultimately what separated Adam.
From God.
God was in the picture. God's in the picture. Tonight everyone of us has to deal with God.
God didn't give up on Adam when Adam sinned, and God has not given up yet on the human race. God has said, My spirit shall not always strive with men, and every one of us has a limited time on this earth to respond to God's call.
You know, it's interesting, when God came into the garden, he didn't say, Adam, what did you do?
He knew, he said. Adam, where are you? Notice what it says here?
And the Lord verse six, the Lord God called unto Adam and said to where art thou? God was interested in Adam. He knew where Adam was and God knows where you are tonight. But he wanted a response from Adam and he got it. He got a response from Adam. Adam didn't say here I am. He knew God knew where he was, he said.
I heard thy voice in the garden.
And I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. He was afraid, He admitted to being afraid.
It's a healthy thing to be afraid of God if you are a guilty Sinner. If you're not a guilty Sinner, my friend, you can walk out the door tonight. This message is not for you.
Except those of us who are no longer guilty sinners rejoice in it, because we're saved.
Now.
I heard thy voice in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked, and I hid myself. And he said, Who told thee thou was naked?
Adam's own conscience told him that.
And each of us has a conscience and you know.
That if you're not, if your sins are not cleansed, you are not fit to meet God tonight.
What was Adam's response? He went and hid himself and then when God said to him.
Umm, have you eaten of the tree? Where have I commanded thee? Thou shest not eat, the man said.
The woman, he didn't say yes. He was devious, he and that's like the rest of us.
We try to evade responsibility, Adam said. The woman which thou gave us, me to be with me, she gave me the tree and I did it. He tried to pass off some of the responsibility, some of the blame.
To his.
Bride. They hadn't been married that long.
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That he was ready to blame his wife.
Sin makes cowards of all of us.
Adam was a coward. He wasn't willing, wasn't ready to face God. He wasn't ready to face his responsibility. And I want you to understand that all of us are by nature are cowards. How do I know that?
There's somebody in this room who's never made an excuse.
Hold up, your hand never made an excuse.
What's an excuse? It's an attempt to evade responsibility.
And Adam made excuses. And so did Eve.
It's male or female. We all make excuses.
I want you to think about something because this is very common in life. You know, when the Lord Jesus told us a story about a man who.
Made a great supper and invited many, and it says with one consent they all began to make excuse.
People make excuses all the time. They're late and they make excuses for that. They lie and make excuses for that with more lies. Sometimes we say, well, politicians do it. Yes, lawyers and salesman and.
Everybody else, we make excuses, but think about it.
God never makes an excuse, you know. It's a wonderful thing if you can grow up and learn not to make excuses.
Is something I've had to learn in my life and I'm still struggling with it. We so automatically make excuses to make excuses to our parents. We make excuses to our children.
God never made an excuse, and God never.
Accepts an excuse he can't. How can God ever accept something he doesn't authorize?
People don't think about this. We live lives of excuses. It's proof that we're sinners, just like Adam.
You know, I like to use visual aids. I.
Have been using visual aids for years and I find that visual aids cover up for a lot of shortcomings in the speaker. People appreciate them and.
I've got this subject of fear and when I was asked last week.
To take this meeting.
I'd already been looking at this subject of fear because I've been hearing about it so much, you know, So we see symbols of fear everywhere we go.
People wear these for two reasons, either fear of a disease or fear of man.
Right, we live in a society that's increasingly dominated by fear, and I want to tell you that God has an answer to fear. Fear, the very first emotion in the human expressed in the human race. Now I've no doubt that when God, God brought.
Eve to Adam, that Adam had some emotion, we're just not told what it was, and I'm sure he was.
Has some really strong feelings. The first feeling we're told of the scripture is fear. And it's a very basic feeling. It's interesting, you know, I've got a quote here. I have been for years. We've been going to a, a detention center. I thought I had the quote here.
Oh, here it is. Here we go.
I stuck my notes down there by mistake. Go to a detention center and this detention center, they have a big picture of Einstein on the wall.
And.
A bunch of quotes that he made and one quote he made that's kind of stuck with me is.
Fear or stupidity has always been the basis of most human action.
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Fear or stupidity has always been the basis of most human action. Well, here you know we have the answer for fear and we have the answer for stupidity as well, right in the word of God.
Poor Einstein. You know, I don't think he ever got the answer. I think he died a disappointed man.
Didn't need to.
So.
I made a list of scriptures. I pulled up a list of scriptures on the computer, printed out some scriptures. I came up with over 100 scriptures on Fear. We're not going to go through them all tonight, but I picked out a few I'd like to look at very quickly. Let's look at.
Psalm 23.
Psalm 23.
Very commonly read. There's a wonderful verse in the middle of Psalm 23.
That deals with fear.
Psalm 22 is written by David, and he has these words in the middle of Psalm 23. Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will.
Fear no evil.
That's a wonderful statement.
How can he say that? Yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. You know, when I was making plans to come down here, somebody said to me, don't you think? You think you shouldn't go there? There's I hear that COVID is on the rise in Kentucky. Well, it's on the rise a lot of places.
Yeah, though I walk in the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.
You know Adam didn't know God's comfort. He began to get a little idea of God's heart toward him when God gave him something better than those fig leaves. God clothed him with animal skins, proper clothing, as a symbol of his interest in Adam's welfare. I want you to understand that God is interested in your welfare tonight more than you are.
And if you're at his side?
He is at your side and it says yeah, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for thou art with me. You know, if you're with the Lord, and you're in the course, in the path of his will, there's no place safer on earth.
The Bible says the fear of man bringeth a snare, but whoso putteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe. The Bible says the horse is prepared in the battle, but safety.
Is of the Lord. You know, if you're in safety, you don't have fear.
That doesn't mean I'm never going to get COVID, it means I can trust the Lord.
God is greater than our fears. God is greater than anything we could fear. And that's what David was saying here. I will fear no evil, for thou art with me.
If I walk into the store and I want to buy something, it costs $0.50 and I haven't got that $0.50.
But I got a friend beside me who says opens up his wallet and says help yourself. And there's lots in there. I don't worry about not having $0.50. God is for you tonight.
Our very being here is evidence of that. God cares for you. David knew that. Let's look at Proverbs chapter one with some interesting verses about fear here. Proverbs chapter one.
Proverbs is right after some, you know, I, I looked all these verses the other night and I thought, how can I arrange these in some orderly manner? And it's like the Lord said to me, I already did just go through the just go from Genesis to Revelation.
And so that's what we're doing tonight. We're going to go very quickly from Genesis to Revelation, Proverbs chapter one and verse 24.
Because I have called and ye refused. You know, Adam, I'm sure Adam was so glad that he did not continue to hide from God. It's a terrible thing for God to call and you refuse. It's dangerous. Because I called and he refused. I have stretched out my hand and no man regarded.
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And ye have said it not all my counsel, and would none of my reproof. I also will laugh at your calamity. I will mock when your fear cometh. Notice that phrase, Your fear cometh.
The fear of the wicked man, Scripture says over and over, will come on him, and it'll be worse than he ever imagined, because God always gives greater than we ask or imagine.
God always gives greater than we ask or imagine, whether it's good or bad.
God's thoughts are bigger than ours and so.
I will laugh when your fear cometh. I will mock when your fear cometh, When your fear cometh as desolation and your destruction cometh as a whirlwind, When distress and anguish cometh upon you. Then shall they call upon me, but I will not answer. They shall mock me. They shall seek me early, but they shall not find me. For that they hated knowledge and did not choose.
The fear of the Lord.
Now this is a very positive, healthy fear, the fear of the Lord. And tonight you can be occupied with the fears that occupy the common man, or you can be occupied with the fear of the Lord. Now the fear of the Lord is a wonderful thing.
It can be in the in the book of Proverbs you have a lot of words about the fear of the Lord and it says in Proverbs think it's 28 or 29. Happy is a man that feareth always.
Well, is it always nice to be fearful? The point is the verse there in the Hebrew, it says happy is the man who is always reverent. Always reverent, recognizing that God is controlling control of all my circumstances.
And so they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord.
That's a bad choice.
And I want to tell you to understand that fear.
I'm sorry.
Is a choice. Fear is a choice. You say I can't help being afraid. Yes, you can. God has given us a way out. Fear is a choice. You have a choice between fear and God. You have a choice between fear and God's love.
You can enjoy one or the other.
Now let's look at Proverbs 28 verse one.
Proverbs 28 verse one, it says the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion. I don't want to comment on that verse right now, but I want you to think about it because it's going to apply.
In something we come to later, the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion. The only comment I want to make on that is that sin.
Makes us all cowards. And by the way, what we're talking about cowardice. Anybody have a trouble? Procrastination.
That's a form of fear. Procrastination is saying I can't deal with this right now or I won't deal with this right now. Maybe there's someone in here who's putting off. They're procrastinating doing something they know the Lord wants them to do.
You're being a coward.
The righteous.
Our bold as a lion, but the wicked flee when no man pursueth. Turn to Isaiah 3314.
I'm going to just simply read these some of these verses make very brief comments because.
Our time is short and I'm really trusting God to impress His word on us. I'm sowing seeds tonight.
Isaiah 33 and verse 14. The sinners in Zion are afraid. Fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites.
Hypocrites.
Are you pretending that you're not a coward, you're a hypocrite?
We're all natural hypocrites, I remember.
Norman Berry once said to me, he was talking about a certain situation. And they turned to me and he said, John, you know, we're all hypocrites. And I thought to myself, I nodded my head, but I thought to myself, Mr. Berry, speak for yourself.
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I hadn't learned yet what a hypocrite I am by nature. That's something we have to learn. We're natural hypocrites because we're natural cowards. We're afraid to be honest.
And so it says here.
Fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites.
Fear and hypocrisy go together. If you're not willing to face reality before God, you're going to be stuck with fear and hypocrisy.
Fearfulness. Fearfulness has surprised the hypocrites. Who among us shall dwell with the devouring fire?
Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? It's the word here is shall.
Because these things are coming. And the kiss you is, is there anybody here that's headed for that? That's the issue tonight. Where are you headed? Who among us shall dwell with everlasting burnings? Turn to Isaiah chapter.
Oh, I want to share something with you that I came across a long time ago. We sing to him.
We sing of the realms of the Blessed. It's hymn #70 and the Little Flock Hymn Book 70 in the appendix.
And the first verse is we sing in the realms of the blessed and so on. There's 4 verses that hymn.
There's a fifth verse that discovered some years ago. We speak of the realms of the damned, the regions of guilt and despair, the endless fear suffering for sin.
But what must it be to be there?
Let me read that again. We speak of the realms of the damned. We talk. People use the word hell carelessly. We speak of the realms of the damned, the regions of guilt and despair, the endless fierce suffering for sin. But what must it be to be there? I thank God I'll never know. I hope nobody here ever does.
Turn to Isaiah 43.
Verse one.
But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that redeemed thee that has formed thee, O Israel, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine. Here's God speaking to his rebellious people, and he's saying, I've redeemed thee, I've called thee by thy name. Thou art mine if I'm God's possession, if he has bought me back.
And the Bible tells us that we are redeemed.
Bought back with the precious blood of Christ. If I'm redeemed, I'm His precious possession. You have things in your life you paid a lot of money for. You value them. God paid infinitely for your soul, if you're His.
And he values you and cares for you with infinite care. He says, fear not, for I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. Thou art mine.
You know, we've been, we've been reminded today that there may be things coming in our future that might cause us to fear. Please remember these verses. Fear not. I have redeemed thee. I have called thee by thy name. You know it's personal.
God says thou art thine now.
Let's look at.
Luke, chapter 12.
Verse one in the mean time, when they were together together in innumerable a multitude of people is so much that they trod one upon another. He that's Jesus began to say, as to the disciples, First of all, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. For there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed, neither hid, which shall not be known. Therefore whatsoever he has spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light, and that was she have spoken in the ears in closets.
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Proclaimed upon the housetops. And I say to you, my friends, be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I foreign warn you whom ye shall fear. Fear him who after he hath killed, hath power to cast into hell. Yeah, I say unto you.
Fear him.
Fear him.
Those are the words of the Lord Jesus.
And he said them with all his heart, fear him.
Who, after he has killed, has power to cast into hell? All right, let's we're going to see something further on that subject in Luke chapter 21.
Luke chapter 21, verse 25.
And there shall be signs in the sun and the moon, and in the stars.
And upon the earth, distress of nations and perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring, men's hearts failing them for fear.
We begin to see that already people in the past year, suicides have been up. I think I heard 50%.
Men's hearts failing them for fear.
And looking after those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of heaven shall be shaken, and then shall they see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. You know, some people think this world is going to end, could end. You know, man could destroy the world and end in a very short time.
Scripture tells us what's going to happen. It tells us that the Lord Jesus Christ is going to come back to this world and he's going to execute judgment and he's going to reign in glory.
For 1000 years. This world isn't going to end sometime soon, but terrible things are going to happen.
And there's a reason for men's hearts failing them for fear. All right, let's look at Luke. This is the heart of the message tonight, Luke chapter 23.
Luke, chapter 23.
This is the picture of Calvary. That's the reason for this thing being here tonight. This flannel graph Luke chapter 23 verse 33. And when they were come to the place which is called Calvary, there they crucified him and the malefactors, one on the right hand and the other on the left. Then said, Jesus, forget Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment and cast lots. And the people stood beholding and.
Rulers also with them derided him, saying, He saved others, let him save himself, if he be Christ the chosen of God. And the soldiers also mocked him, coming to and offering him vinegar, and saying, If thou be king of the Jews, save thyself. And the superscription also was written over him in letters of Greek and Latin and Hebrew. This is the king of the Jews, and one of the malefactors which were hanging, railed on him, that is, spoke abusively.
To the Lord Jesus saying, If thou be Christ, save thyself and us.
And the other answering rebuked him, saying, Do you not fear God, seeing thou art in the same condemnation? And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, But this man hath done nothing amiss. And he said to Jesus, Lord, Remember Me when thou comest into thy Kingdom. And Jesus said to him, Verily I say to thee today.
Thou shalt be with me in paradise.
There were three men crucified.
They looked, all three of them looked like criminals because of where they were and how they were. But we know that Jesus was in the midst, and there was.
Nothing. No guilt in the Son of God.
But there were two malefactors on either side of it, two men who were loaded with sin.
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And yet Jesus was being crucified along with them.
And one of these men mocked the Lord Jesus.
Made fun of him. I hope there's no one here that ever so dishonors the Lord Jesus as to make fun of Him.
And the other man said, dost thou not fear God, seeing we are in the same condemnation?
He recognized that he was dying. He was going to meet God.
And he was guilty.
And he said.
Don't you fear God? This man should have feared God, and he didn't.
There is a proper fear of God.
He said, this man said to the Lord Jesus, Lord, Remember Me. He said, oh, he said of the Lord Jesus, this man has done nothing amiss. And you know, he confessed what truth he knew of the Lord Jesus and he got more light. There's a scripture that says in thy light shall we see light. He found out, he, he realized that Jesus was.
Innocent. And then he realized that Jesus was the Messiah.
He says to the Lord, Lord, Remember Me when you come into your Kingdom. And Jesus said today.
You will be with me in paradise. Which is better, to be in the Kingdom or in paradise? Far better to be in paradise. He got more than he asked for. I want to tell you, if you come to the Lord Jesus, you'll get more than you ask for, more than you ever dreamed of.
God's.
Heart and God's mind, and God's wealth and God's power.
Are greater than we can comprehend.
And so Jesus said to this man, today you'll be with me in paradise. But.
Of course Jesus would be in paradise. He was perfect.
How was it this man could be in paradise? Well, the Bible tells us it says who? His own self.
Bore our sins.
In his own body, on the tree, during the three hours of darkness, Jesus took this guilty, believing man's sins on himself. And He did it for me too.
And after the three hours of darkness, there were two men.
On Calvary who are ready to enter paradise.
One because he was the holy Son of God, and the other because he was.
Redeemed with the precious, full of Christ. Now tonight, my friend, which are you? Are you like the thief who rejected Christ, or the one who called upon him? Scripture says whosoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved.
Hebrews, chapter 2.
Hebrews, chapter 2.
And verse.
15.
14 verse 14 For as much, then, as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he himself likewise took part of the same that through death he might deliver them that had the.
Deliver him that had the power of death, that is, destroy him that had the power of death that is a devil. And deliver them who through fear of death, were all their lifetimes subject to *******. You know, there's people all around us. I hope you're not one of them.
Who are struggling?
To make themselves fit.
To meet God and they are in *******.
And Jesus came to set them free.
That's what the word deliver means, to be set free.
Are you in ******* here tonight? Are you in fear tonight? And Adam came to God, he was in fear. He was afraid. There's no need to be afraid of God. Yes, there is a place for reverential fear of God, but no need to be a trembling Sinner stuck outside.
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And to deliver them.
Who, through fear of death, were all their lifetimes subject to *******?
Turn to 1St John.
Chapter 4.
Verse 16.
We have known.
And believed the love that God hath to us. God is love, and he that dwelleth in love.
Dwelleth in God, and God in him. Herein is love made perfect.
That we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Remember that verse we read in Proverbs?
The righteous flee when no man pursueth.
Let the righteous, excuse me, this wicked flee. The wicked flee when no man pursueth. But the righteous are bold as a lion, that we may have boldness.
In the day of judgment.
Because as he is.
So are we in this world, this man? He didn't know it, but as Jesus was on the cross, and as Jesus is now in glory, so is that man fit for glory, fit for heaven.
There is No Fear and love, but perfect love casteth out fear.
Because fear hath torment, and he that he that feareth is not made perfect in love. Tonight, my friend, if you're living in fear, any kind of fear, I'm talking about the natural fear that Adam felt, fear of the future, fear of death, fear of circumstances.
Not talking about the fear of God, but if you're living in natural fear.
You're not made perfect in love.
Perfect love casteth out fear. God is greater than anything we could fear. God is greater than your needs. God is greater than your sins. His grace is greater. His provision is greater.
He that feareth is not made perfect and long think of those words.
Where do you want to? Where are you going to find perfection and love?
Says perfect love casts out fear. Where are you going to find perfect love? In the person of Christ?
This man was crucified beside perfect love and embodied.
He didn't know it and you don't, so there may be someone here tonight. Don't realize how close they are to that perfect love God offers you himself.
God offers you himself.
And so it says here, he that feareth is not made perfect in love.
Perfect love casts out fear. Let's turn to.
Revelation, the last scripture we're going to look at Revelation chapter 6.
I'm just scattering seeds tonight.
Just in the order in which they I find them in scripture. Revelation chapter 6 when this is a something came to mind in connection with fear Revelation chapter 6.
And.
Verse Start with verse 12.
And I beheld when he had opened the 6th seal, and lo, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth of hair, and the moon became as blood, And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, even as a fig tree casteth her untimely figs when she is shaken of a mighty wind. And the heaven departed as a scroll when it is rolled together.
And every mountain and island were moved out of its place.
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And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondsman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that live sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
For the great day of his wrath is come, and who shall be able to stand?
There is a future, you know. I pass out pocket calendars.
Keep them on my pocket. This is for 2022. And sometimes I give them to people and they look at all the kind of early, isn't it? I say, yes, it's coming. 2022 is coming. I don't know what it holds, but it's coming. Word of God tells us that there this earth has a future yet, and that future includes judgment.
And this gives us a little picture of the judgment, this passage.
Notice what it says here in verse again, verse 15. And the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich man, and the chief captains, and the mighty men, and every bondsman, and every freeman, hid themselves in the dens, and in the rocks of the mountains, and said to the mountains and rocks, fall on us, and hide us from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb.
For the great day of his wrath has come, and who shall be able to stand now in Normally speaking, people don't talk to rocks or mountains, but we're seeing a scene of desperation. This world is going to become desperate, and when the Lord's glory and His judgment are revealed, people are going to want to hide, just like Adam did.
And they're going to call on the rocks and the mountains.
It says here they're going to do it. They're going to ask the rocks in the mountains to hide them.
You know, this is something that's been that was.
Impressed on my mind 55 years ago.
By a young man named Jim Wilson, who none of you knew. I don't think maybe Don here might remember him. And he used to play his guitar and sing a song that was popular in those days. And I want to try to sing it for you because it left an indelible memory, my mind. And I want you to think about it.
O Sinner man, where are you going to run to?
Oh Sinner man, where are you going to run to? Oh Sinner man, where are you going to run to on that day? Run to the rocks. Rocks, won't you hide me? Run to the rocks. Rocks, won't you hide me? Run to the rocks. Rocks, won't you hide me?
On that day.
No Sinner man rocks will never hide you. No Sinner man rocks will never hide you. No, Sinner man rocks will never hide you on that day.
Oh Sinner boy, where are you going to run to?
Oh, sitter girl.
Or are you going to run to Oh Sinner woman, where are you going to run to?
On that day, you know God. The Bible tells us that God is a refuge. God is a refuge for us, and there is no other.
Fear is a choice.
Perfect love casts out fear. I want to tell you fear was a choice resulting because a result of sin. But God has always been love, and even if you go to hell.
It won't because God quit loving you it because of your choice.
Your sin.
God.
Is love.
And so there's no excuses.