Episode Transcript
The message is fear or desire.
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Fear or desire.
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Tammy and I sure enjoyed being in church with y'all Wednesday night online
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and listening to Brother Shepherd expound verse 23.
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And we were able to...
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I don't know how y'all do when you travel,
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but we were able to listen through our stereo system on her car.
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Does anyone else do that if you have to? Yeah.
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It is so nice. It was is good, if not better of quality
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listening on that stereo system in our chair than it would be
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if you were sitting there in the pew. It was just quite nice.
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And we had good connection as we were listening.
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And it was just such a blessing to be so far away
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and at the time be right at home enjoying the message with you at the same time.
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And in verse 23 last week, we learned that it is a sport in Proverbs 10, 23.
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It is as sport to a fool to do mischief, but a man of understanding hath wisdom.
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Doing mischief is the undoing of God's will.
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That's kind of how I see it.
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Doing mischief is the undoing of God's will.
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And a fool has a great time doing those things which are unpleasing to God.
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When Satan rebelled against God in heaven, it was mischief.
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When he wreaked havoc in the Garden of Eden, it was mischief.
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When they crucified Jesus, it was mischief.
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But a wise man knows that the will of God is best.
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And this ties in with our next verse tonight.
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A wise man knows that the will of God is best.
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Therefore the doing of mischief is ultimately the undoing of her own good.
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It's done to her own hurt.
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So a fool delights to do mischief, but a wise man delights to do God's will.
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Even as Jesus said in Psalm 40, verse 8, "I delight to do thy will, O my God.
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Yea, thy law is within my heart."
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Now tonight we take those thoughts, we move into verse 24, where the Bible tells us in
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verse 24 about the fear of the wicked.
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The fear of the wicked.
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We often read about the fear of the Lord in the Bible, don't we?
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In fact, Brother Shepherd and I, it was amazing.
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He told me, he said, "If you had known better people would think we compared notes before
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the Sunday school and the message."
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And I went home and listened.
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I thought, "Man, that's almost embarrassing because we had visitors."
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We had visitors.
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And I thought, "Man, they may think that we're collaborating on this, but they just harmonize
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so well so often."
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And you know, but we both reference the fear of the Lord in our Sunday morning teaching
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this week.
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But don't confuse the fear of the wicked with the fear of the Lord.
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They're not the same thing.
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In fact, they're not even the same word.
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The fear of the Lord is speaking about our reverence of God.
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But the Hebrew word translated fear in our verse tonight in verse 24 is an entirely different
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word.
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The fear in our text tonight is not talking about reverence, it's talking about being
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afraid.
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Wicked people like to put on a tough front for people.
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You ever seen, especially singers, man, you ever seen any rock singers?
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You see them smile?
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No, no, no, they just want to...
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They won't look like that.
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We're tough.
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I play a guitar.
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Don't mess with me.
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And they always want to look tough or mean or wear clothes that glorify death.
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And if they're not trashy like that, maybe they're a politician, they want to look confident.
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I can handle this.
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I'm in charge.
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You got a lawyer on a billboard and they look like, almost like a superhero.
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Like that lawyer on a billboard.
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Hurt by a truck, you need, you know, the hammer, the Texas hammer.
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But the truth is, all of these people, they have fear just like everybody else.
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They do.
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They get scared just like everybody else, maybe even more so than other people.
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And they act that way to put on that front to compensate for their fears.
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I think everybody in here tonight is afraid of something from time to time.
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Sometimes I'm afraid my heart will give me trouble and maybe just go crazy and quit beating.
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Sometimes maybe Brother Shepherd's afraid of stopping a car or pulling up at a domestic
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dispute and maybe getting shot at work.
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I'm sure Glenda's been afraid of dying with cancer or the side effects of her treatment.
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Perhaps you're afraid of something else.
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Everybody's got fear.
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Everybody's afraid of something, but there's a stark difference between the fear of the
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wicked and the fear of the righteous in Jesus Christ.
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There's a kingdom truth.
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The righteous fear with the hope of the gospel.
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The wicked fear with no hope at all.
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The righteous fear with the hope of the gospel.
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The wicked fear with no hope at all.
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I fear that my heart might quit beating, but I rejoice that I shall keep living in spite
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of it.
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That's true.
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Brother Shepherd may fear getting shot, but he rejoices that he'll rise again.
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When Glenda was first told that she had cancer, she said, "I'm not afraid to die.
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I'm just afraid of the process of dying."
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And I think all of us would sympathize with that and have thought of the same things before.
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So far.
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But in other words, as a believer, she's basically saying that she's afraid of what the cancer
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may do, but she rejoices in what Jesus will one day do to the cancer.
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That's fearing and hope.
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That's how the righteous fear.
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Those who trust in Jesus.
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They neither sorrow without hope, the Bible says.
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You know what?
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Nor do they fear without hope.
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We don't sorrow like others and we don't fear like others.
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Therefore the fear of the wicked, the Bible says, look back in your text, "It that is
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what the wicked fears shall come upon him."
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It shall come upon him.
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The wicked may rise to power and appear invincible for a time, but ultimately their fear will
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come upon them and overtake them.
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The psalmist talks about the wicked spreading out like a palm branch and seeming so powerful.
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And then next thing you know, it's gone.
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Those people are gone.
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In the Gospel of Mark, chapter 6, the Gospel of Mark, chapter 6, aren't you glad we get
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to talk about being afraid in church?
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We need to.
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Do you know why?
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Because a lot of times you'll get afraid and the devil will say, well now if he is afraid,
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Christian wouldn't get afraid.
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Christians wouldn't be.
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That's not true.
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The Bible says what time am I afraid?
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I'll trust in thee.
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Well how can you do that if you're not first afraid?
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Mark chapter 6, verse 48 through 50, Jesus' disciples, his hand-picked disciples were
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on a stormy sea in a boat and the Bible says Jesus, quote, "saw them toiling and rowing."
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You know what that means?
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Toiling and rowing.
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Those guys were exhausted.
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They were worn out physically.
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Now when you have physical exhaustion with mental fear, that is a bad state to be in.
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When you're physically exhausted and you're mentally afraid, you're on the verge of a
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breakdown and God put them in a position where they would be physically exhausted and mentally
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afraid at the same time.
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How to put you in that position too.
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Physical exhaustion, whether through toiling and rowing or through sickness coupled with
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fear.
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But you know what?
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Here's the beautiful thing.
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Those disciples, while they were toiling, in rowing and afraid, were exactly where God
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wanted them to be at that time.
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Don't think you're out of the will of God because you're exhausted and afraid.
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They were in the perfect will of God in the right spot where they were supposed to be
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in life at that time, where God could teach them a lesson and we're going to see here
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in a minute where God could come visit them in a way he could not visit them unless they
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were in that spot.
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Glenda told me the other day, "I think it was me," or maybe she told Tammy and Tammy
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told me, "No, I think it was me right out here on the sidewalk."
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She was closer to God today than she's ever been in her life.
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You know what?
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Because she's toiling and rowing.
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That a lot of times is when Jesus shows up in a marvelous, miraculous way.
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Jesus saw them toiling and rowing for the wind was contrary unto them.
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That means life wasn't going their way.
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They're mentally afraid.
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They're physically exhausted and everything in life is going the wrong direction for them.
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And who put them in that situation?
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God did.
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Not their sin, not the devil.
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God put them in that situation.
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And about the fourth watch of the night when they should be asleep and they can't get any
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rest, "he that is Jesus cometh unto them walking upon the sea."
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At the very worst times in our lives, a lot of times that's when Jesus comes walking to
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us.
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And would have passed by them.
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In other words, just act like he's just walking along like always walking on the sea like
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this.
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I'm not paying attention to the people in the boat.
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I'm just going to walk right past them.
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That's why he was acting.
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Verse 49, "But when they saw him walking upon the sea, they supposed it had been a spirit
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and cried out."
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Now life wasn't going their way.
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They were physically exhausted.
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They were mentally afraid.
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And now they think they've seen a ghost.
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I mean, if they weren't scared already, they're really scared now.
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And now they just start screaming.
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It takes a lot for a grown man to scream.
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They're afraid.
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Verse 50, "For they all saw him and were troubled.
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And immediately he talked with them and saith unto them," listen to these soothing words
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in the middle of their nightmare, "Be of good cheer.
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It is I.
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Be not afraid."
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"Be of good cheer.
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It is I.
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Be not afraid."
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Do you know what that troubled sea was?
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It was Jesus.
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Do you know what the wind was blowing contrary to them?
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It was Jesus.
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Do you know what their physical exhaustion was and inability to sleep was?
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It was Jesus.
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That's how he came to them, was in their troubled circumstances.
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That's when Jesus shows up a lot of times in ways we would have never dreamt.
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They would have never expected Jesus walking on the sea.
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And Jesus visits us in our trouble in ways we wouldn't expect either.
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The disciples were afraid of the storm.
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They were afraid of the spirit that they thought was a spirit.
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They were 12 very scared men.
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But when Jesus came, he said, "Be of good cheer.
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It is I.
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Be not afraid."
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Here's a kingdom truth for you tonight.
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Fear will ultimately overtake the unbeliever.
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But when Jesus comes, he will ultimately overtake the believer's fear.
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Fear will ultimately overtake the unbeliever.
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But when Jesus comes, just like with these disciples, he will ultimately overtake the
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believer's fear.
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One day Israel will be surrounded by their enemies.
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Christians will be persecuted unto death.
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It will be the most scary time the world has ever known.
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And then suddenly the clouds will roll back like a scroll.
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And Jesus will come, and there will be nothing to be afraid about anymore for his disciples.
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The coming of Jesus Christ, as he came on the sea, he will come in the clouds.
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And when he comes, his coming will affectionately tell every believer, "Be of good cheer.
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It is I.
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Be not afraid."
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Now notice the comparison that the Scriptures make between the fear of the wicked and the
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desire of the righteous.
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The fear of the wicked shall come upon him.
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Look back in your text.
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But the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
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So there's this stark difference between the wicked and the righteous, between the believers
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and the unbelievers.
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No matter what happens in their brief life on this earth, the wicked will ultimately
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face something they dread.
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Let me repeat that again.
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No matter what happens in their brief life on this earth, the wicked will ultimately
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face something they dread.
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While the righteous will ultimately receive something they desire.
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The wicked may enjoy earthly things that they desire for now, but they'll ultimately have
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to give them up and face the judgment.
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The righteous, however, will never give up their heart's desire because their heart's
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desire is not the things of this world.
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Psalm 27.4, King David said, "One thing have I desire to the Lord that will I seek after
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that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life to behold the beauty
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of the Lord and to inquire in his temple."
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Do you know where the man is right now that wrote that Psalm?
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He's in the house of the Lord, beholding the beauty of the Lord and inquiring, and that
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word in the Hebrew means admiring in his temple, the desire of the righteous has been granted.
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That's what he sought after.
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That's what he wanted.
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There are things I have desired the Lord over the years which I've sought him for according
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to his will.
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And the Bible says as we read earlier, "If we delight ourselves in the Lord, he'll give
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us the desires of our heart."
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Jesus said, "I delight to do thy will, oh my God."
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When we delight to do God's will, who was here first?
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Our delight or God?
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If we delight ourselves in the Lord, who was here first?
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Our delight or God?
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God was.
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If we delight in God, then we delight in the things of God, the things God wants for us.
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The things God has designed us to have.
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And so if you delight in the Lord, then it's the Lord putting that delight in you for him.
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It originates with God.
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It's put in man.
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Man then seeks it of God and then God fulfills it in the man he put that longing in his heart
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for.
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If you're normal, and when I say normal, I mean this, sin has created abnormal people.
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Sin has broken the longing of our heart so that in sin and in blindness in our darkness
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of our flesh, we long for things that are harmful for us, that we were not designed
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to have.
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But if we're normalized through the gospel, if we have our thinking on straight through
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the conversion of our heart and our repentance through having our mind renewed by God's words,
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so now we're aligned with truth, then we're going to desire the things of God, which we
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were created for, which are best for us.
00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:22,320
And with that said, there are things that I've desired the Lord over the years, which
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I've sought him for according to his will.
00:19:28,480 --> 00:19:33,280
And those things would have been impossible for me to receive in my own effort, but God
00:19:33,280 --> 00:19:37,640
graciously granted them to me.
00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:41,080
Just like the text says, I had to wait many years for some of them, but God has been exceedingly
00:19:41,080 --> 00:19:46,160
and abundantly faithful.
00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,040
God has told me no before on things, and I'm glad.
00:19:48,040 --> 00:19:55,280
But he's never refused to grant the righteous desires that he first placed on my heart.
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That makes sense.
00:20:02,720 --> 00:20:04,560
He gave me the desire to pastor a church.
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Here I am.
00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:10,240
He gave me the desire to have an avenue to reach those who doubt their salvation.
00:20:10,240 --> 00:20:15,300
He granted it.
00:20:15,300 --> 00:20:18,420
He gave me the desire to teach a seminary course to help the next generation of preachers.
00:20:18,420 --> 00:20:22,360
He granted it.
00:20:22,360 --> 00:20:24,160
He gave me the desire for a godly wife.
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He granted it.
00:20:26,000 --> 00:20:27,760
He gave me the desire to write a book so I could, after I died, leave something behind
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that could still help people who were seeking assurance of their salvation.
00:20:32,120 --> 00:20:35,660
He granted it.
00:20:35,660 --> 00:20:36,660
He gave me the desire for many other things.
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He's granted them.
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Here's the kingdom truth for you tonight.
00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:44,560
If our desires are according to God's heart, then he shall grant them according to his
00:20:44,560 --> 00:20:53,480
grace.
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If our desires are according to God's heart, then he shall grant them according to his
00:20:54,880 --> 00:21:02,440
grace.
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The fear of the wicked will come upon him, but the desire of the righteous shall be granted.
00:21:05,360 --> 00:21:11,840
Psalm 145, verse 19 and 20 harmonizes with this verse tonight.
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It says, "He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him.
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He also will hear their cry and will save them."
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Isn't that beautiful?
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"Oh man, he will fulfill the desire of them that fear him.
00:21:33,200 --> 00:21:40,400
He also will hear their cry and will save them.
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The Lord preserveth all them that love him, but all the wicked will he destroy."
00:21:45,520 --> 00:21:51,600
Do you know what he basically just said right then?
00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:55,320
He'll grant the desire of the righteous, but the fear of the wicked will come upon him.
00:21:55,320 --> 00:22:01,440
Now in verse 19, if you still have it up there, good, I'm glad you know.
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:07,120
Yes, "He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him."
00:22:07,120 --> 00:22:11,040
If you look at these two words, let me get my little pointer out here, Brother Neil.
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Since Brother Neil's here, I'm going to take this out here.
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Oh, we got a pointer there too.
00:22:19,840 --> 00:22:22,560
Look at the word desire and the word fear.
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Thank you.
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Thank you for doing that.
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Underscore fear.
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I like that.
00:22:29,240 --> 00:22:34,240
Fear.
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Desire and fear.
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We got some new technology he's working on there on that screen.
00:22:40,000 --> 00:22:44,040
But notice those two words.
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He will fulfill the desire of them that fear him.
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You have to fear him for him to fulfill your desire.
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Notice that fear God, desire God's will.
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You see, they go hand in hand.
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Thus God accomplishes his will by fulfilling the desire of them that fear him.
00:23:05,000 --> 00:23:11,320
Isn't that beautiful?
00:23:11,320 --> 00:23:15,480
So tonight we have a promise, both to the righteous and to the wicked.
00:23:15,480 --> 00:23:20,940
To the righteous, one day their fear will come upon them and overtake them.
00:23:20,940 --> 00:23:28,680
That's to the wicked.
00:23:28,680 --> 00:23:30,340
One day their fear will come upon them and overtake them.
00:23:30,340 --> 00:23:33,600
To the righteous, to the believer in Christ, he will hear their cry.
00:23:33,600 --> 00:23:40,360
He will save them.
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And he'll grant the desire of their harsh to them that fear his name and love him.
00:23:41,960 --> 00:23:52,920
What do we need to do with that tonight?
00:23:52,920 --> 00:23:56,480
Well first of all, on a practical level, we do two things and we close.
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On a practical level, we first know that no matter what happens to us in this world, eventually
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Jesus will overcome our fear.
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And so no matter what we face, we know that it will ultimately be overcome in his grace
00:24:13,360 --> 00:24:21,360
through the resurrection, through the changing of our body in a moment, the twinkling of
00:24:21,360 --> 00:24:27,160
an eye at the last trump.
00:24:27,160 --> 00:24:30,840
But another practical level is this.
00:24:30,840 --> 00:24:33,760
We need to be people who fear the Lord, who reverence his name.
00:24:33,760 --> 00:24:39,460
We need to be people who delight ourselves in God.
00:24:39,460 --> 00:24:44,040
The Bible says that we should set our affection on things above where Christ sits on the right
00:24:44,040 --> 00:24:50,840
hand of God.
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Now if you set your affection, if you're a believer and you begin setting your affection
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:57,440
on things here on this earth, God is not going to fulfill the desires of your heart because
00:24:57,440 --> 00:25:04,480
God is not in the business of granting carnal things.
00:25:04,480 --> 00:25:11,000
He's in the business of granting eternal things, treasures that can't be lost with time, things
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that aren't founded upon this fallen world.
00:25:19,040 --> 00:25:23,440
So if we'll set our affection on things above where God is, delight ourselves in him, delight
00:25:23,440 --> 00:25:29,400
ourselves in fulfilling his will.
00:25:29,400 --> 00:25:33,420
Here's a prayer that I prayed for myself over the years, and I prayed it today for me and
00:25:33,420 --> 00:25:41,720
Tammy both.
00:25:41,720 --> 00:25:45,020
It came from when I was a young believer reading the Old Testament stories and seeing how Moses
00:25:45,020 --> 00:25:52,880
didn't get to make it into the promised land because he twisted off and smote the rock
00:25:52,880 --> 00:25:58,800
twice and seeing how King David had such a brilliant beginning and such a tarnished end,
00:25:58,800 --> 00:26:10,600
how Solomon, the wisest man, ended up doing foolish things.
00:26:10,600 --> 00:26:19,640
And reading those things, it made me fear doing that.
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:28,680
And so over the years I've prayed, "Lord, help me to end stronger than I began.
00:26:28,680 --> 00:26:34,760
Help me to stay faithful to you and let my end be stronger than my beginning."
00:26:34,760 --> 00:26:41,040
And I prayed that for me and my wife today that we will serve him all the days of our
00:26:41,040 --> 00:26:45,480
life unto death and then even let our death be glorifying to his name and let our end
00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:52,280
be stronger than our beginning.
00:26:52,280 --> 00:26:55,240
We have to think that way.
00:26:55,240 --> 00:26:57,560
We have to live with an eternal perspective, with our eyes set upon eternity because that's
00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:05,240
the only thing that's going to last, with our eyes set upon God's will and the advancement
00:27:05,240 --> 00:27:11,240
of God's kingdom and whatever aspect, whatever role he's put us in.
00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:17,000
Mine is in ministry, in gifts of teaching and evangelism, yours of being something else.
00:27:17,000 --> 00:27:25,200
But whatever they're in, set your affection on things above.
00:27:25,200 --> 00:27:30,540
Learn to delight yourself in God and in so doing he will give you the desires of your
00:27:30,540 --> 00:27:37,240
heart which will basically be giving you a portion of himself, a portion of his grace
00:27:37,240 --> 00:27:47,880
as the Scripture calls it, according to the measure of the gift of Christ.
00:27:47,880 --> 00:27:55,000
He'll do that if you'll delight yourself in him.
00:27:55,000 --> 00:27:57,960
Father, I pray tonight that you'll take these precious people and, Lord, your promises,
00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:08,680
Lord, are good to everybody.
00:28:08,680 --> 00:28:16,040
They're comforting to people who are toiling in a boat in the middle of the night when
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:25,000
the wind is contrary to them and everything's very scary in the dark as they're exhausted
00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:34,280
and afraid.
00:28:34,280 --> 00:28:36,120
Lord, ultimately, Father, no matter how dark it gets, no matter how bad the wind blows
00:28:36,120 --> 00:28:44,040
contrary to us in life, ultimately, Lord, Jesus is coming on the sea.
00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:53,000
Jesus is coming with his feet already walking and treading upon the things we're afraid
00:28:53,000 --> 00:28:58,760
of and his coming will overcome our fears and that we thank you, Father.
00:28:58,760 --> 00:29:10,280
And Lord, I pray you'll help us to be like Jesus, to delight, to do thy will.
00:29:10,280 --> 00:29:19,800
Oh my God, and in delighting to do your will, you will delight to give us the desires of
00:29:19,800 --> 00:29:29,160
our heart.
00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:30,920
We ask it in Jesus' precious name.
00:29:30,920 --> 00:29:33,720
Amen.
00:29:33,720 --> 00:29:34,200
