1 00:00:07,960 --> 00:00:10,960 Hi and welcome to the Via Zion Sermon podcast. 2 00:00:11,320 --> 00:00:14,000 We are a local church based here in Chennai, India. 3 00:00:14,480 --> 00:00:17,240 We are so glad you are with us and hope that this will 4 00:00:17,240 --> 00:00:20,280 encourage, inspire and instill fresh faith in you. 5 00:00:21,160 --> 00:00:24,080 We have started a series called The Kingdom Life based on the 6 00:00:24,080 --> 00:00:27,920 life and teachings of Jesus from the Gospel according to Mark. 7 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,840 We look at how we must live our lives on this earth as followers 8 00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:35,720 of Jesus in a way that is countercultural yet powerfully 9 00:00:35,720 --> 00:00:39,160 impactful. As you listen in, our hope is 10 00:00:39,160 --> 00:00:44,080 that you will be motivated to live, love, lead and serve just 11 00:00:44,080 --> 00:00:48,440 like Jesus. Hi Church, What a joy it is to 12 00:00:48,520 --> 00:00:51,080 bring God's word to you. Today we are looking continuing 13 00:00:51,080 --> 00:00:54,400 to look at the Kingdom life and this sub series and this is 14 00:00:54,400 --> 00:00:56,160 really called the Kingdom paradoxes. 15 00:00:56,440 --> 00:01:01,000 When you read the gospels, when you read the New Testament and 16 00:01:01,000 --> 00:01:02,920 you know, couple it to the Old Testament, you find there are 17 00:01:02,920 --> 00:01:06,960 some things that are so in, you know, in contrast to each other, 18 00:01:06,960 --> 00:01:09,360 they really don't seem like they fit with each other. 19 00:01:09,360 --> 00:01:12,200 And in the Kingdom as well, in the teachings that Jesus did on 20 00:01:12,200 --> 00:01:15,160 the Kingdom of God, there are seeming paradoxes. 21 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:18,120 And we're going to be analysing a few of them of the next 3-4 22 00:01:18,120 --> 00:01:20,400 weeks just to kind of understand what God meant. 23 00:01:20,680 --> 00:01:23,040 Are they really in opposition to, to each other? 24 00:01:23,040 --> 00:01:25,160 And if they're not, how do they fit in? 25 00:01:25,160 --> 00:01:26,400 That's what we're going to be looking at. 26 00:01:26,800 --> 00:01:30,200 And what are paradoxes for those who have a doubt about that. 27 00:01:30,200 --> 00:01:32,800 Paradoxes are contradictory things, things that are in 28 00:01:32,800 --> 00:01:36,000 opposition to each other. And we're going to be looking at 29 00:01:36,000 --> 00:01:40,560 how in Jesus's teachings there were some apparent paradoxes. 30 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:43,840 They seemingly contradict each other, and we will look deeper 31 00:01:43,840 --> 00:01:45,400 as to whether they do or they don't. 32 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:49,280 We're going to be looking today at the Kingdom paradox of the 33 00:01:49,280 --> 00:01:51,920 fear of the Lord versus the joy of the Lord. 34 00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:54,920 The fear of the Lord, the joy of the Lord. 35 00:01:56,320 --> 00:01:59,760 How do you find joy in the one that you're afraid of? 36 00:02:00,480 --> 00:02:02,720 That doesn't make sense on a human level. 37 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:05,200 On a physical level, it doesn't even make sense. 38 00:02:05,320 --> 00:02:08,960 But we're going to be looking at how Jesus actually enforces 39 00:02:08,960 --> 00:02:12,000 these two so beautifully. He, he wraps his teachings 40 00:02:12,200 --> 00:02:14,600 around these concepts and we're going to be understanding that a 41 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:16,760 bit more. When I was thinking about this 42 00:02:16,760 --> 00:02:19,240 paradoxical nature of the fear of the Lord and the joy of the 43 00:02:19,240 --> 00:02:22,520 Lord, I remembered many Christmases ago when the kids 44 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:25,160 were younger, usually in a family photo. 45 00:02:25,200 --> 00:02:27,160 This doesn't happen now because the kids have grown up. 46 00:02:27,160 --> 00:02:31,160 But when they were little, for every family photo at Christmas, 47 00:02:31,160 --> 00:02:34,600 Easter, on New Year, there would be one of them who was upset or 48 00:02:34,600 --> 00:02:36,160 fighting. And therefore in the family 49 00:02:36,160 --> 00:02:40,400 picture there'll be 1 frown and there'll BE4 smiling faces. 50 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:43,800 And I remember the fact that in one Christmas picture we were 51 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,360 taking it in our garden and my husband had had to discipline 52 00:02:48,000 --> 00:02:50,280 two of the three kids and he had disciplined them. 53 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:52,880 And then he was setting up the camera on camera, on timer, 54 00:02:53,320 --> 00:02:55,560 setting us all up. And he kept telling the kids, 55 00:02:56,280 --> 00:02:58,400 keep a happy face. Keep a happy face. 56 00:02:58,400 --> 00:03:01,720 You guys. I remember our younger 2, the 57 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:05,480 ones who had been disciplined, so unable to keep a happy face 58 00:03:05,480 --> 00:03:07,960 just because they just got in disciplined and they were far 59 00:03:07,960 --> 00:03:11,200 from feeling happy. And sometimes the paradoxical 60 00:03:11,200 --> 00:03:13,280 nature of some of the things that we read in the Bible make 61 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:15,720 us feel that way. Well, I'm afraid right now, how 62 00:03:15,720 --> 00:03:17,760 am I going to feel joyful, right? 63 00:03:17,800 --> 00:03:20,680 And so we're going to be looking closer at how we can understand 64 00:03:20,680 --> 00:03:23,400 this paradox and find that they're actually not 65 00:03:23,400 --> 00:03:28,360 paradoxical, but actually very, very fitted in with each other. 66 00:03:28,360 --> 00:03:31,160 So we're going to look at Matthew chapter 10, verse 28 67 00:03:31,160 --> 00:03:35,600 first, where Jesus is talking to people about coming persecution 68 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:37,560 and he's warning them about that. 69 00:03:37,560 --> 00:03:41,000 And in that context, he says do not be afraid of those who kill 70 00:03:41,000 --> 00:03:44,560 the body but cannot kill the soul, rather be afraid of the 71 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:48,080 one who can destroy both soul and body in hell. 72 00:03:48,680 --> 00:03:52,560 So Jesus himself is saying fear God because he's the one who 73 00:03:52,560 --> 00:03:55,160 holds eternity in the balance for you and me. 74 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:58,360 He's not talking about anything deeper than that. 75 00:03:58,360 --> 00:03:59,840 He's just going straight to the point. 76 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,440 He's not digressing. He's saying don't fear the ones, 77 00:04:02,440 --> 00:04:04,920 don't fear the the people who intimidate you, don't fear the 78 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:06,600 ones who are putting you in trouble. 79 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:11,720 He says instead fear the one who can destroy both soul and body 80 00:04:11,720 --> 00:04:14,560 in hell. So this fear that he's talking 81 00:04:14,560 --> 00:04:19,600 about is really knowing who God is and and in who God isn't with 82 00:04:19,600 --> 00:04:22,320 reference to us. Too many times we equate 83 00:04:22,320 --> 00:04:24,200 ourselves with God. Too many times we think we have 84 00:04:24,200 --> 00:04:27,160 all the answers and we look at God as just this henchman 85 00:04:27,160 --> 00:04:30,160 someone was to aid me and help me in the stuff that I want to 86 00:04:30,160 --> 00:04:32,920 pursue. Sometimes we think God has 87 00:04:32,920 --> 00:04:35,560 certain capabilities which which could help which I lack. 88 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:38,520 But here's the thing that the Book of Revelation so 89 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:41,640 beautifully writes, and it says Revelation 15 verses three to 90 00:04:41,640 --> 00:04:45,240 four says they sang the song of God's servant Moses and of the 91 00:04:45,240 --> 00:04:47,760 Lamb. Great and marvelous are your 92 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:51,440 deeds, Lord God Almighty, just and true are your ways. 93 00:04:51,440 --> 00:04:54,640 King of the nations, who will not fear you, Lord, and bring 94 00:04:54,640 --> 00:04:57,800 glory to your name. For you alone are holy. 95 00:04:58,200 --> 00:05:01,560 All nations will come and worship before you, for your 96 00:05:01,560 --> 00:05:04,120 righteous acts have been revealed. 97 00:05:05,000 --> 00:05:09,000 It's so beautiful because at the end of all time, nations are 98 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:11,200 going to be bowing before him and singing the song. 99 00:05:11,440 --> 00:05:13,080 And why should he have been feared? 100 00:05:13,200 --> 00:05:15,160 Because he is righteous. He is almighty. 101 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:18,400 His deeds were marvelous. He's the king of every nation 102 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:22,960 that we know and don't know. All the nations by the end of 103 00:05:22,960 --> 00:05:25,480 the of time will be bowed before him. 104 00:05:25,720 --> 00:05:28,480 This is why we fear and Revere Him. 105 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:31,640 We don't fear Him because we are worried that He would punish us. 106 00:05:31,640 --> 00:05:33,960 No, we are not looking at God that way. 107 00:05:33,960 --> 00:05:38,120 We are looking at God as this, this immense, immense creator of 108 00:05:38,120 --> 00:05:41,240 the Sustainer of all life, the One who breathed the world into 109 00:05:41,240 --> 00:05:45,920 existence and realizing that in comparison to Him I am nothing, 110 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,120 and without Him in my life I can do nothing. 111 00:05:49,800 --> 00:05:53,200 That is what this fear looks like when we look at joy. 112 00:05:53,600 --> 00:05:58,240 What does Jesus talk about joy in John chapter 15 verses 10:50? 113 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:02,280 It says if you keep my commands you will remain in my love, just 114 00:06:02,280 --> 00:06:05,320 as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love. 115 00:06:05,800 --> 00:06:09,480 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your 116 00:06:09,480 --> 00:06:13,920 joy may be complete. God is Jesus is actually saying 117 00:06:14,600 --> 00:06:18,320 I am giving you my joy when you do the things that please me, 118 00:06:18,760 --> 00:06:21,640 when you remain in my love. Essentially he's saying when you 119 00:06:21,640 --> 00:06:26,600 live a life that is a God fearing life, I will give you my 120 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,400 joy and your joy will be made complete. 121 00:06:29,720 --> 00:06:33,560 In other translation says your joy will be full, full to 122 00:06:33,560 --> 00:06:36,360 overflowing. So the question here is this is 123 00:06:36,360 --> 00:06:38,720 what Jesus talked about. He said fear God, don't fear 124 00:06:38,720 --> 00:06:41,160 people. He also said when you do what 125 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,360 pleases me, I give you my joy, your joy it's full. 126 00:06:44,600 --> 00:06:48,240 How do I find joy in a God that I'm called to fear and Revere? 127 00:06:48,840 --> 00:06:51,520 That's the question, and I believe the answer is found in 128 00:06:51,520 --> 00:06:56,520 the book of Nehemiah. Nehemiah was this high official 129 00:06:56,520 --> 00:06:59,200 who had actually been he was a royal, he was part of the 130 00:06:59,200 --> 00:07:02,640 royalty. He was taken to into exile. 131 00:07:02,840 --> 00:07:05,800 You know, during the time of Nebuchadnezzar, the whole band 132 00:07:05,800 --> 00:07:09,640 of Jewish exiles were taken out and displaced and placed in 133 00:07:09,640 --> 00:07:13,600 other countries. And Nehemiah was placed in the 134 00:07:13,600 --> 00:07:15,520 land of Persia where he was sent on exile. 135 00:07:15,520 --> 00:07:18,680 And he was serving the king Artzerxes. 136 00:07:18,680 --> 00:07:22,560 He was serving in his palace. He was his cup bearer, and as he 137 00:07:22,560 --> 00:07:26,840 was serving there, he heard from returning exiles of how the land 138 00:07:26,840 --> 00:07:29,640 was completely decrepit and devastated. 139 00:07:29,720 --> 00:07:31,280 There were no walls, there were no gates. 140 00:07:31,280 --> 00:07:34,920 And Nehemiah developed this burden for the city that he 141 00:07:34,920 --> 00:07:38,720 loved, the home, home country of his which has just been left 142 00:07:38,760 --> 00:07:42,440 open to ravaging and and had just been left exposed. 143 00:07:42,720 --> 00:07:45,600 And so God puts this burden in his heart to go rebuild the 144 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:47,720 walls and the gates of Jerusalem. 145 00:07:47,920 --> 00:07:50,040 And he broaches the topic to his boss. 146 00:07:50,200 --> 00:07:53,560 His boss releases him, gives him so much favour that he sends 147 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:56,960 letters, you know, giving him permission to access resources 148 00:07:57,320 --> 00:08:01,040 and opens up doors for him to go safely and enter Jerusalem. 149 00:08:01,040 --> 00:08:04,240 When he goes to Jerusalem, he finds there are a lot of other 150 00:08:04,240 --> 00:08:07,800 Jews who have returned and who are staying there and also are 151 00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:09,640 so saddened by the state of their city. 152 00:08:10,280 --> 00:08:13,600 And so Nehemiah first does a full, you know, he, he does a 153 00:08:13,600 --> 00:08:15,680 recce trip. He checks all where the walls 154 00:08:15,680 --> 00:08:18,600 have been broken, how they've been burnt, comes back, takes 155 00:08:18,600 --> 00:08:20,880 stock, and then invites others into his vision. 156 00:08:21,640 --> 00:08:25,360 Much like what many of us do nowadays when we, we follow 157 00:08:25,360 --> 00:08:29,360 God's calling on our lives, we view, we, we, we understand the 158 00:08:29,360 --> 00:08:31,800 situation and then we decide to rebuild. 159 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:34,240 So maybe you can relate to Nehemiah as I speak. 160 00:08:34,600 --> 00:08:39,960 But Nehemiah's life is one that is driven by a holy fear of God. 161 00:08:39,960 --> 00:08:43,200 How do we know this? The entire exile, you know, the 162 00:08:43,200 --> 00:08:48,240 exile that that happened to Israel as a country, both the 163 00:08:48,240 --> 00:08:50,600 northern and southern kingdoms, when they went into exile, the 164 00:08:50,600 --> 00:08:53,280 reason was they had forgotten God. 165 00:08:53,840 --> 00:08:55,680 And they didn't just forget God overnight. 166 00:08:55,920 --> 00:08:58,960 Over a period of time they had lost of fear and reverence for 167 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:00,440 God. The book of the Law was given to 168 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:01,800 them. They knew what was expected. 169 00:09:02,040 --> 00:09:04,680 They knew what the Levitical priest was supposed to do. 170 00:09:04,680 --> 00:09:06,720 They knew what they were supposed to offer God. 171 00:09:06,920 --> 00:09:08,760 They knew that they had to keep the Sabbath. 172 00:09:08,760 --> 00:09:11,320 They knew they had to give the land a break every now and then. 173 00:09:11,640 --> 00:09:13,400 They knew how to treat foreigners. 174 00:09:13,400 --> 00:09:15,640 They knew how to treat the ones who served them. 175 00:09:15,640 --> 00:09:19,920 They knew all of this in theory and yet they had not bothered to 176 00:09:19,920 --> 00:09:22,760 practice it. The the baseline is this. 177 00:09:22,760 --> 00:09:26,400 The law was given to them so that they would know God more, 178 00:09:26,560 --> 00:09:29,320 they would know his heart. They would be set apart in the 179 00:09:29,320 --> 00:09:30,960 way they worship the one true God. 180 00:09:31,560 --> 00:09:34,160 But unfortunately the exile had to happen because they had 181 00:09:34,160 --> 00:09:36,520 wandered away. They'd lost a fear of God. 182 00:09:36,520 --> 00:09:39,080 They'd merged in with the countries that were around them. 183 00:09:39,080 --> 00:09:41,560 They were not trying to live a a set apart life. 184 00:09:42,080 --> 00:09:45,080 And because of which God's mighty hand came in and 185 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:48,680 destroyed them. Now, Nehemiah had come back to 186 00:09:48,680 --> 00:09:51,280 this scenario and the people were already broken, probably 187 00:09:51,280 --> 00:09:54,360 emotionally, spiritually, physically weak and tired from 188 00:09:54,360 --> 00:09:56,600 the travel. And he begins to rebuild. 189 00:09:57,320 --> 00:10:01,400 And the midst of the rebuilding, there's so much that comes at 190 00:10:01,400 --> 00:10:02,360 him. It's not like it's a 191 00:10:02,360 --> 00:10:04,920 straightforward thing. He goes, he sources everything 192 00:10:04,920 --> 00:10:06,840 and starts building, gets it done and goes back. 193 00:10:07,320 --> 00:10:10,960 There is so much opposition. People who were Gentiles, who 194 00:10:10,960 --> 00:10:13,600 didn't want them back in a place which was fortified, started 195 00:10:13,600 --> 00:10:17,000 causing trouble. There were there was Sam Bellat 196 00:10:17,360 --> 00:10:19,080 was one such guy who was opposition. 197 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:22,680 There was a so much of of negativity that he had to deal 198 00:10:22,680 --> 00:10:24,760 with from people around who are watching them. 199 00:10:25,520 --> 00:10:29,560 And God was calling him into a place of just doing the task 200 00:10:29,560 --> 00:10:31,760 given to him. Nahema had come. 201 00:10:31,960 --> 00:10:35,480 Nahema had come to fix the walls to replace the gates. 202 00:10:35,760 --> 00:10:38,600 That was his calling. And the kind of opposition he 203 00:10:38,600 --> 00:10:41,440 faced was incredible. But here's the thing, he kept 204 00:10:41,440 --> 00:10:43,400 doing the work. He kept encouraging his people 205 00:10:43,400 --> 00:10:46,560 to work, and before long the walls and the gates are up. 206 00:10:46,720 --> 00:10:48,720 The people are in a world fortified city. 207 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:51,000 Isn't that amazing? There must have been some 208 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:54,000 semblance of safety for them, some semblance of restoration 209 00:10:54,240 --> 00:10:56,560 that you know what we're, we're a little safer than we were 210 00:10:56,560 --> 00:10:58,760 before. And just when he's doing that, 211 00:10:58,760 --> 00:11:00,160 life is starting to go back to normal. 212 00:11:00,160 --> 00:11:02,760 People are resettling in small towns and villages. 213 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:08,280 He finds out that within the Jewish community there was 214 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:11,400 slavery that was still being employed, that poorer families 215 00:11:11,400 --> 00:11:14,360 had to sell their children to higher class families in order 216 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:16,400 to make ends meet. They had to have to give up 217 00:11:16,400 --> 00:11:19,000 vineyards, they had to give up gardens, they had to give up 218 00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:20,960 land in order to sustain themselves. 219 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:23,400 And the worst thing was that the higher class people were 220 00:11:23,400 --> 00:11:26,520 charging interest for the stuff that they were loaning to 221 00:11:26,520 --> 00:11:28,960 people. All of this, if you, if you read 222 00:11:28,960 --> 00:11:33,000 the Old Testament, you know all of that is wrong because Moses, 223 00:11:33,000 --> 00:11:35,760 when he gave them the law, said you cannot enslave anyone from 224 00:11:35,760 --> 00:11:37,760 your own community. He had said you cannot lend with 225 00:11:37,760 --> 00:11:40,280 interest. This was part of their 226 00:11:40,280 --> 00:11:44,120 foundational belief systems. And yet even after rebuilding, 227 00:11:44,120 --> 00:11:46,600 these things stayed, these cultural habits stayed. 228 00:11:46,960 --> 00:11:49,200 And so God was now going to correct them about it. 229 00:11:49,720 --> 00:11:52,800 But the the beautiful thing was that Nehemiah and the fear of 230 00:11:52,800 --> 00:11:56,240 God that he lived in was able to give direction immediately to 231 00:11:56,240 --> 00:11:57,720 them. He was immediately able to say, 232 00:11:57,720 --> 00:12:01,080 hey, what you're doing is wrong and let's read what he says. 233 00:12:01,400 --> 00:12:04,920 Nehemiah chapter 5 verses 9:00 to 11:00, it says, so I 234 00:12:04,920 --> 00:12:07,800 continued, what you are doing is not right. 235 00:12:08,520 --> 00:12:12,200 Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach 236 00:12:12,280 --> 00:12:16,160 of our Gentile enemies? I and my brothers and my men are 237 00:12:16,160 --> 00:12:19,240 also lending the people money and grain, but let us stop 238 00:12:19,240 --> 00:12:23,320 charging interest. Give back to them immediately 239 00:12:23,320 --> 00:12:27,200 their fields, vineyards, olive oils, the olive Groves and 240 00:12:27,200 --> 00:12:30,240 houses and also the interest. You are charging them 1% of the 241 00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,640 money, grain, new wine and olive oil. 242 00:12:32,640 --> 00:12:34,680 So this was the situation. Look at this one line. 243 00:12:34,920 --> 00:12:39,560 Shouldn't you walk in the fear of our God to avoid the reproach 244 00:12:40,280 --> 00:12:42,680 of our Gentile enemies? Keep a note of that. 245 00:12:43,120 --> 00:12:46,960 He was calling them to live differently, lest the Gentiles 246 00:12:46,960 --> 00:12:51,400 are all around them, looked at them and mocked them, mocked 247 00:12:51,400 --> 00:12:53,640 their God. That's what he was saying. 248 00:12:53,840 --> 00:12:56,160 Now going further down in the later chapters of the book of 249 00:12:56,160 --> 00:12:58,880 Nehemiah, Nehemiah talks about certain reforms that he brought 250 00:12:58,880 --> 00:13:00,720 in. And one of the reforms he did 251 00:13:00,720 --> 00:13:03,400 was he was the governor. He was appointed by the Persian 252 00:13:03,400 --> 00:13:05,400 king to come here, establish this place. 253 00:13:05,720 --> 00:13:07,360 So he was given the title as a governor. 254 00:13:07,360 --> 00:13:10,400 But he says he didn't live like the previous governors. 255 00:13:10,400 --> 00:13:13,680 He didn't extort from the people, you know, oil or wine or 256 00:13:13,680 --> 00:13:16,080 any of that. He lived within his bare 257 00:13:16,080 --> 00:13:17,520 minimum. In fact, he says he didn't even 258 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:19,400 use the rations that were given for him. 259 00:13:19,800 --> 00:13:22,680 He used it to cook for others. And this is what he says. 260 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:27,520 Nehemiah 5 was 15. But the earlier governors, those 261 00:13:27,520 --> 00:13:32,120 preceding me, placed a heavy burden on the people and took 40 262 00:13:32,120 --> 00:13:35,960 shekels of silver from them. In addition to food and wine. 263 00:13:36,200 --> 00:13:39,200 Their assistants also lauded it over the people. 264 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:46,240 But out of reverence for God. I did not act like that, but out 265 00:13:46,240 --> 00:13:51,600 of reverence for God, I did not act like that from these two 266 00:13:51,600 --> 00:13:53,440 passages. And if you read the whole book 267 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,600 of Nehemiah, it's such a beautiful, beautiful story of 268 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:01,200 resilience, of grit, of vision, of purpose, much like what 269 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:05,040 anyone of us who are called to rebuild societies, rebuild 270 00:14:05,040 --> 00:14:07,760 communities, rebuild our cities, when we are called for this, 271 00:14:07,920 --> 00:14:11,320 this is what we must look like. This is what our lives must look 272 00:14:11,320 --> 00:14:13,000 like. But there are a couple of things 273 00:14:13,000 --> 00:14:14,520 that I want to leave with you guys today. 274 00:14:15,880 --> 00:14:17,920 I'm going to leave three things about the fear of God. 275 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,560 You know when you are someone who lives in the fear of God, 276 00:14:20,560 --> 00:14:23,880 First of all, the fear of God will make you stand out. 277 00:14:24,800 --> 00:14:26,880 There is no way you will blend in. 278 00:14:27,640 --> 00:14:31,000 When you look at that, it says if you do this, you will bear 279 00:14:31,000 --> 00:14:32,560 the reproach of the Gentile people. 280 00:14:32,720 --> 00:14:34,080 He's saying you will not stand out. 281 00:14:34,080 --> 00:14:36,520 You will once again merge in with the communities all around 282 00:14:36,520 --> 00:14:38,080 you. You were created to stand out. 283 00:14:38,080 --> 00:14:40,600 God chose Israel and all the nations of the world to 284 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:43,560 demonstrate His great love towards them, to set them apart 285 00:14:43,560 --> 00:14:47,200 as a people favoured and loved. Today, those of us who have got 286 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:51,240 into the Kingdom because of our faith, we have made it into the 287 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:54,280 remnant and this remnant must stand out. 288 00:14:54,280 --> 00:14:57,360 It cannot be just fit in. Some of us are so desperate to 289 00:14:57,360 --> 00:14:59,520 fit into office culture. Some of us are so desperate to 290 00:14:59,520 --> 00:15:02,400 fit into our college culture. Some of us want to fit into the 291 00:15:02,400 --> 00:15:05,880 apartment culture. Whatever the prevailing culture 292 00:15:05,880 --> 00:15:09,040 is the fear of God. When you choose to live in the 293 00:15:09,040 --> 00:15:13,080 fear of God, it will make you stand out. 294 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:16,040 Before I even get into this, I need to leave this with you. 295 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:19,280 What does it look like to live in the fear of God? 296 00:15:19,680 --> 00:15:23,200 It means that when you honour God with all that you have, when 297 00:15:23,200 --> 00:15:26,920 God is first and foremost in your priority list, the way you 298 00:15:26,920 --> 00:15:32,360 eat, sleep, work, wake, live, is dictated by God. 299 00:15:32,880 --> 00:15:34,840 And I don't mean to say that he's a dictator. 300 00:15:34,840 --> 00:15:37,600 That's not what I mean. It means that I'm so submitted 301 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,760 to Him, I'm so surrendered to Him, that every aspect of my 302 00:15:40,760 --> 00:15:43,120 life feels the hand of God on it. 303 00:15:43,680 --> 00:15:47,120 And so when I live like that, it automatically makes me stand 304 00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:48,400 out. You think of so many stories in 305 00:15:48,400 --> 00:15:52,480 the Bible, the ones who feared God stood out much like a sore 306 00:15:52,480 --> 00:15:54,240 thumb. But when you stand out, it's 307 00:15:54,240 --> 00:15:56,040 easy to see why you are hand picked. 308 00:15:57,760 --> 00:16:00,520 Daniel's friend, Shadrach, Meshach, Abednego, the entire 309 00:16:00,520 --> 00:16:02,640 nation is bowing before this huge idea. 310 00:16:03,120 --> 00:16:04,720 They stood up, they didn't bow down. 311 00:16:06,160 --> 00:16:09,680 Cornelius was a man of God, a Gentile, and he was the first 312 00:16:09,680 --> 00:16:13,400 one in the Gentile Kingdom to receive the gospel and to be 313 00:16:13,400 --> 00:16:16,400 baptized as an entire family. You see what I'm saying? 314 00:16:16,600 --> 00:16:21,720 When you are set apart for God, the fear of God has to be the 315 00:16:21,720 --> 00:16:23,480 first thing that people notice of you. 316 00:16:23,920 --> 00:16:26,720 I remember back in the day when when you know, people put up 317 00:16:26,720 --> 00:16:29,320 their, you know, child's proposal on any kind of, you 318 00:16:29,320 --> 00:16:32,800 know, we had all our matrimonial sites and all of that. 319 00:16:33,160 --> 00:16:35,760 They would write they wanted a God fearing boy. 320 00:16:35,760 --> 00:16:38,600 And then the interesting lines after that would, would really 321 00:16:38,600 --> 00:16:40,560 make you wonder whether they were God fearing because they 322 00:16:40,560 --> 00:16:42,560 would ask you for their cars, they would ask you for your 323 00:16:42,560 --> 00:16:44,840 salary and all of those other things. 324 00:16:45,760 --> 00:16:49,160 We use God fearing in a very interesting way in our language, 325 00:16:49,600 --> 00:16:53,680 but my question to us is we the remnant, are we truly fearing 326 00:16:53,680 --> 00:16:55,840 God? Are we living in such a way that 327 00:16:55,840 --> 00:16:58,600 makes us stand out or are we living in such a way that we 328 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:03,160 just kind of merge in? Nehemiah stood out and he 329 00:17:03,160 --> 00:17:06,839 desired for his people to stand out in the way they lived, in 330 00:17:06,839 --> 00:17:08,319 the way they they ran their homes. 331 00:17:08,319 --> 00:17:10,720 Yes, they were a walled in city Now, yes, people couldn't see 332 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:13,280 them as much, but there were still gentiles all around them. 333 00:17:13,280 --> 00:17:15,000 There were still those who were not saved. 334 00:17:16,000 --> 00:17:19,359 You are being watched, for better or for worse. 335 00:17:19,359 --> 00:17:20,880 You've been watched by people around you. 336 00:17:21,240 --> 00:17:25,000 Are your decisions making you stand out as a follower of 337 00:17:25,000 --> 00:17:27,079 Jesus? Or are they saying, are you 338 00:17:27,079 --> 00:17:29,000 bringing reproach to Jesus? Are they saying, oh, these 339 00:17:29,000 --> 00:17:31,120 Christians also are like, are like this. 340 00:17:31,560 --> 00:17:35,920 The Christians also take bribes. The Christians also give bribes. 341 00:17:36,960 --> 00:17:39,200 Oh, they also, you know, have extramarital affairs. 342 00:17:39,200 --> 00:17:40,760 It's no big deal. They're like one of us. 343 00:17:41,480 --> 00:17:43,280 You don't just bring reproach to yourself. 344 00:17:43,280 --> 00:17:45,520 You bring reproach to the name of Jesus. 345 00:17:46,320 --> 00:17:48,840 That's the first thing. Living in the fear of God makes 346 00:17:48,840 --> 00:17:50,680 you stand out. The second thing is that living 347 00:17:50,680 --> 00:17:54,400 in the fear of God won't allow you to give in to intimidation. 348 00:17:54,600 --> 00:18:00,440 The kind of intimidation that Nehemiah was facing was in 349 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:02,000 another plane. There were a couple of guys, 350 00:18:02,000 --> 00:18:04,480 there were a couple of Arabs, there were Ammonites. 351 00:18:04,760 --> 00:18:07,560 These were all Gentile kingdoms, people who had been left behind. 352 00:18:07,560 --> 00:18:11,080 They were also in the land settled around, and these guys 353 00:18:11,080 --> 00:18:14,680 didn't like that they were restoring this place for their 354 00:18:14,680 --> 00:18:16,080 God's sake, for their people's sake. 355 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:18,480 And so they started coming out of the woodwork causing havoc 356 00:18:18,480 --> 00:18:20,560 for him. And it's interesting because 357 00:18:20,840 --> 00:18:23,080 they were trying all kinds of intimidation tactics. 358 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:25,200 They would send someone to them when they were building and say 359 00:18:25,200 --> 00:18:28,000 we're going to attack you. So Nehemiah would immediately 360 00:18:28,000 --> 00:18:29,840 pray. And then he didn't stop with 361 00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:31,160 prayer, actually did something about it. 362 00:18:31,160 --> 00:18:33,120 He gave them all Spears and swords. 363 00:18:33,400 --> 00:18:36,160 They would have that in one in their scabbards or they would 364 00:18:36,160 --> 00:18:38,120 have it in their hands and they would keep building. 365 00:18:38,760 --> 00:18:41,800 They were prepared. He was never pushed back by the 366 00:18:41,800 --> 00:18:44,120 intimidation. He sensed it was intimidation 367 00:18:44,440 --> 00:18:47,800 and he worked all the harder. And I believe that when we have 368 00:18:47,800 --> 00:18:51,960 the fear of God in our lives, no one or nothing can intimidate 369 00:18:51,960 --> 00:18:53,960 us. And let me tell you, we live in 370 00:18:53,960 --> 00:18:57,560 a time of intimidation. Wherever in the world we are, we 371 00:18:57,560 --> 00:19:00,720 experience intimidation. Maybe from a boss, maybe from an 372 00:19:00,720 --> 00:19:03,600 old friend, maybe from a new friend, maybe from a person we 373 00:19:03,600 --> 00:19:07,000 don't know, maybe from from someone in office, maybe someone 374 00:19:07,000 --> 00:19:09,600 in the neighbourhood, maybe someone from law enforcement, we 375 00:19:09,600 --> 00:19:11,440 don't know. Intimidation can come in all 376 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:13,920 shapes and sizes. But here's the thing, when you 377 00:19:13,920 --> 00:19:18,360 and I live in the fear of God, nothing or no one should 378 00:19:18,360 --> 00:19:21,840 intimidate us. Nehemiah chapter 6 verse 13 says 379 00:19:22,240 --> 00:19:26,240 he had been hired to intimidate me so that I would commit a sign 380 00:19:26,240 --> 00:19:29,480 by doing this and then they would give me a bad name to 381 00:19:29,480 --> 00:19:31,840 discredit me. It's so interesting because a 382 00:19:31,840 --> 00:19:32,960 couple of the guys said, you know what? 383 00:19:32,960 --> 00:19:35,280 Come and meet us in the temple. They acted like they were 384 00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:39,560 protecting him, but he found out Nehemiah discerned that they had 385 00:19:39,560 --> 00:19:42,560 a plot out to hurt him. And so he said, you know what, 386 00:19:43,400 --> 00:19:45,280 I've come here on deputation from the king. 387 00:19:45,400 --> 00:19:47,200 I don't need to come and hide and meet anyone. 388 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:49,800 You want to meet me, meet me up front in the open. 389 00:19:49,800 --> 00:19:51,320 You don't need to do this undercover. 390 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:55,280 You see the kind of courage he displays in the face of 391 00:19:55,280 --> 00:19:59,640 intimidation, if not for the fear of God, if not for the fact 392 00:19:59,640 --> 00:20:03,440 that he knew he was on mission. He had his eyes on G on on God 393 00:20:03,440 --> 00:20:05,760 himself. If he didn't have that clarity, 394 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:08,040 he would have gotten pushed off track. 395 00:20:08,440 --> 00:20:12,160 And I want to ask us today, have you been giving in to 396 00:20:12,160 --> 00:20:15,640 intimidation? Have you been so caught up with 397 00:20:15,640 --> 00:20:20,960 pleasing someone or doing something because you felt so 398 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,120 intimidated? Or are you willing to face the 399 00:20:23,120 --> 00:20:25,480 intimidation head on and say, you know what? 400 00:20:25,480 --> 00:20:27,840 Bring it on. I got a living God inside of me. 401 00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:30,800 Greater is He that is in me than He that is in the world. 402 00:20:30,920 --> 00:20:33,920 You cannot scare me. Maybe you've been facing 403 00:20:33,920 --> 00:20:36,040 spiritual intimidation, maybe you've been going through 404 00:20:36,040 --> 00:20:39,080 warfare and God is saying you don't have to be afraid. 405 00:20:39,080 --> 00:20:41,800 As long as you're living in a way that that honours me, that 406 00:20:41,800 --> 00:20:44,840 reveals me, as long as you have a fear of God in you, you have 407 00:20:44,840 --> 00:20:48,480 nothing to worry about. You have nothing to worry about. 408 00:20:48,480 --> 00:20:51,800 God is calling us to a place of fearing him deeply so that we 409 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:53,760 will fear nothing or no one else. 410 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:57,320 The third thing about the fear of God is that it moves us into 411 00:20:57,320 --> 00:21:03,480 unexpected places of influence. Mehemiah Chapter 7 verse 2, it 412 00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,440 says I put in charge of Jerusalem my brother Hanani 413 00:21:06,920 --> 00:21:09,200 along with Hananiah, the commander of the citadel, 414 00:21:09,200 --> 00:21:12,480 because he was a man of integrity and feared God more 415 00:21:12,480 --> 00:21:15,840 than most people do. Hanani was just the commander of 416 00:21:15,840 --> 00:21:17,600 the citadel. The citadel was probably like a 417 00:21:17,920 --> 00:21:21,800 a small little fortress inside and he was just the commander, 418 00:21:21,800 --> 00:21:26,760 but he put in this man and his own brother in charge of an 419 00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:30,840 entire city just because they feared God. 420 00:21:32,000 --> 00:21:35,520 And I wonder if some of us are so desperate for influence, but 421 00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:37,880 we don't have the fear of God, and therefore God cannot 422 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:41,000 confidently raise us to that place of influence until we 423 00:21:41,000 --> 00:21:43,160 start living in a way that honours him. 424 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:47,000 It's so important to understand that influence comes to those 425 00:21:47,760 --> 00:21:50,680 who can steward it well. Influence comes. 426 00:21:50,840 --> 00:21:53,320 I agree there are some people who have influence who are not 427 00:21:53,320 --> 00:21:56,040 doing it the right way. But for those of us who know 428 00:21:56,040 --> 00:21:59,760 Jesus, who walk in his ways, who strive to know him more, 429 00:22:00,040 --> 00:22:02,080 influence will come unexpectedly. 430 00:22:02,200 --> 00:22:07,400 When you continually walk in the fear of God, it's so important 431 00:22:07,400 --> 00:22:10,320 to remember that influence is not everything. 432 00:22:11,120 --> 00:22:15,200 Our everyday, our every moment, our moment by moment decisions 433 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:19,040 to fear God, to to honour Him, to live in his ways, to obey his 434 00:22:19,040 --> 00:22:23,280 word eventually will pay off eventually will pay off. 435 00:22:23,480 --> 00:22:26,240 As we go through the Nehemiah story further on, if you find 436 00:22:26,240 --> 00:22:30,880 that Nehemiah and and the seer, the the scribe, Ezra come up 437 00:22:30,880 --> 00:22:32,560 with this plan. If you're getting all of them, 438 00:22:32,560 --> 00:22:36,120 who can understand the word to come and stand in the square and 439 00:22:36,120 --> 00:22:39,800 where Ezra the scribe reads the word to them out loud, right. 440 00:22:40,040 --> 00:22:43,600 So they were people of all stature, all all some nobles, 441 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:45,520 some ordinary people. They were all in that place 442 00:22:45,520 --> 00:22:48,280 together. And Ezra is reading the word of 443 00:22:48,280 --> 00:22:50,680 God, the word of the Lord to them, right? 444 00:22:50,680 --> 00:22:56,400 And this is what happens. Nehemiah chapter 8 verses 9:00 445 00:22:56,400 --> 00:22:59,360 to 12:00. Then Nehemiah the governor, Ezra 446 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:02,280 the priest and teacher of the law, and the Levites were 447 00:23:02,280 --> 00:23:05,720 instructing the people said to them, all this day is holy to 448 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:09,000 the Lord your God. Do not mourn or weep, for all 449 00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,440 the people had been weeping as they listen to the words of the 450 00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:14,800 law. Nehemiah said go and enjoy 451 00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:18,280 choice food and sweet drinks and send some to those who have 452 00:23:18,280 --> 00:23:21,600 nothing prepared. This day is holy to our Lord. 453 00:23:22,040 --> 00:23:24,400 Do not grieve, for the joy of the Lord is your strength. 454 00:23:24,960 --> 00:23:28,560 The Levites calmed all the people saying be still, for this 455 00:23:28,560 --> 00:23:32,440 is a holy day, do not grieve. Then all the people went away to 456 00:23:32,440 --> 00:23:35,920 eat and drink, to send portions of food, and to celebrate with 457 00:23:35,920 --> 00:23:39,000 great joy because they now understood the words that had 458 00:23:39,000 --> 00:23:43,080 been made known to them. So interesting because the 459 00:23:43,080 --> 00:23:45,720 people are weeping. I love that line. 460 00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:51,160 It says they now understood the words that had been made known 461 00:23:51,160 --> 00:23:54,120 to them. The joy that you feel when you 462 00:23:54,120 --> 00:23:57,680 understand the words of God's revelation to you. 463 00:23:58,560 --> 00:24:01,440 It's so important that we read aloud the word of God, that we 464 00:24:01,640 --> 00:24:05,800 internalize the word of God, because that is, that is when we 465 00:24:05,800 --> 00:24:09,320 get to know God better. But then there's this other line 466 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:13,000 that he says because they were weeping when they were weeping, 467 00:24:13,000 --> 00:24:17,200 he says don't grieve for the joy of the Lord is your strength. 468 00:24:18,720 --> 00:24:22,640 It's amazing because they're weeping must have been seeing 469 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:26,120 how far they came from had gone from God and how God had rescued 470 00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:28,040 them and and been faithful to his word. 471 00:24:28,040 --> 00:24:32,040 But then it says they went away to eat and drink and they're 472 00:24:32,040 --> 00:24:35,000 going to celebrate. So while their posture was one 473 00:24:35,000 --> 00:24:37,960 of weeping, Nehemiah was reminding them, you don't need 474 00:24:37,960 --> 00:24:40,000 to cry about this, that you fell so short. 475 00:24:40,160 --> 00:24:43,360 You need to be rejoicing because now you understand God's word 476 00:24:43,400 --> 00:24:47,080 and you know how to live by it. And the key there is that the 477 00:24:47,080 --> 00:24:50,400 joy of the Lord is our strength. And it's so important to 478 00:24:50,400 --> 00:24:53,440 understand that when we live in a fear of God, when we live with 479 00:24:53,440 --> 00:24:58,120 a constant understanding of God is God, He is sovereign, He 480 00:24:58,120 --> 00:25:00,080 cannot be understood by mere mortals. 481 00:25:00,080 --> 00:25:02,640 And yet through Jesus, I get to know him. 482 00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:05,440 That should be the source of our greatest joy. 483 00:25:06,000 --> 00:25:09,000 And I missed this. I realized 40 years living as a 484 00:25:09,000 --> 00:25:12,560 Christian, let's leave out the 1st 10 years, 30 years I missed 485 00:25:12,560 --> 00:25:15,640 this, that I'm always looking for something to bring me joy 486 00:25:15,640 --> 00:25:19,760 when it should be purely the fact that I have Jesus in my 487 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:22,720 life that should be the greatest source of my joy because He is 488 00:25:22,720 --> 00:25:27,440 the one who made God accessible. He's the one I can have a 489 00:25:27,440 --> 00:25:29,400 living, talking, walking relationship with. 490 00:25:29,640 --> 00:25:32,120 He has given me everything I need for life, health and 491 00:25:32,120 --> 00:25:35,040 godliness. Why am I so joyless? 492 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:40,160 So many times when life hits me and blindsides me, God is asking 493 00:25:40,160 --> 00:25:44,440 that like Jesus, when I look to Jesus, I look to Jesus for so 494 00:25:44,440 --> 00:25:46,200 many things. I look look to him to provide 495 00:25:46,200 --> 00:25:47,920 for me, to protect me, to help me. 496 00:25:48,600 --> 00:25:51,320 But primarily, you know what it says about Jesus and joy? 497 00:25:51,320 --> 00:25:57,640 It says Jesus looked ahead at the joy set before him and 498 00:25:57,640 --> 00:26:01,880 endured the cross. Joy was beyond the cross, but he 499 00:26:01,880 --> 00:26:04,120 had to walk through the way of the cross. 500 00:26:04,360 --> 00:26:08,280 And so often we forget that Jesus is the role model. 501 00:26:08,600 --> 00:26:11,560 If Jesus could do that, Lord, I want to come somewhere in 502 00:26:11,560 --> 00:26:13,600 between. I'm going through this hurdle 503 00:26:13,600 --> 00:26:16,160 right now, but I know this joy set before me. 504 00:26:16,920 --> 00:26:19,120 I know that your grace will be sufficient. 505 00:26:19,400 --> 00:26:21,080 And that is where we need to come to. 506 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:25,400 We need to come to this place of holding onto Him and saying the 507 00:26:25,400 --> 00:26:28,280 joy is in you, Lord. It's not in what happens or 508 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:29,840 doesn't happen. It's not whether the prayer gets 509 00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:32,880 answered or the joy is finding you and clinging on to you. 510 00:26:34,520 --> 00:26:36,560 Two things that I want to leave with you about the joy of the 511 00:26:36,560 --> 00:26:38,880 Lord. The joy of the Lord, first of 512 00:26:38,880 --> 00:26:42,400 all, is your superpower. As a Christian, that is our 513 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:44,240 superpower. Why is it our superpower? 514 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:49,320 The word joy in itself is is derived from the word Kara. 515 00:26:49,640 --> 00:26:51,600 And Kara's root word is actually grace. 516 00:26:52,200 --> 00:26:55,880 And so this beautiful picture of joy just came to me when I was 517 00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:59,320 reading through the dictionary and it says Kara means is the 518 00:26:59,320 --> 00:27:03,000 gladness that comes when grace is recognized. 519 00:27:03,520 --> 00:27:07,400 So like I said, the minute you go through this start going 520 00:27:07,400 --> 00:27:10,760 through the stormy season, you will realise that Oh my gosh, in 521 00:27:10,760 --> 00:27:13,720 the midst of it, I had family to hold me up. 522 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:16,320 In the midst of it, I had someone who I could call, who 523 00:27:16,320 --> 00:27:18,800 could pray and encourage me. The in the midst of it, the 524 00:27:18,800 --> 00:27:22,400 medication I took worked. When you start seeing God's hand 525 00:27:22,400 --> 00:27:25,000 of grace on everything, when you see Jesus in the midst of the 526 00:27:25,000 --> 00:27:29,280 struggle, that's when you realise this is worth being 527 00:27:29,280 --> 00:27:32,680 joyful over. Joy is the superpower of every 528 00:27:32,680 --> 00:27:34,560 Christian. It is not something that just 529 00:27:34,560 --> 00:27:36,560 happens overnight. It's not something that I can 530 00:27:36,960 --> 00:27:38,920 manufacture. It's a fruit of the Spirit. 531 00:27:39,080 --> 00:27:45,160 What happens is that it is kindled within us by the Holy 532 00:27:45,160 --> 00:27:47,640 Spirit and it's what comes out of us. 533 00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:52,160 But primarily for that, primarily for that I need to 534 00:27:52,160 --> 00:27:56,240 have a grateful heart. If I don't have a grateful 535 00:27:56,240 --> 00:27:59,960 heart, if I don't have eyes and that have that have light coming 536 00:27:59,960 --> 00:28:03,280 through the mall, I will look at is the darkness of my situation. 537 00:28:03,440 --> 00:28:06,400 But when I start looking at life and saying, God, I see your hand 538 00:28:06,400 --> 00:28:08,800 in this. Yes, I'm suffering, Yes, I'm 539 00:28:08,800 --> 00:28:11,120 walking through this hard path. Yes, I've lost my job. 540 00:28:11,320 --> 00:28:14,120 Yes, my marriage didn't workout, but God, you didn't leave me. 541 00:28:14,920 --> 00:28:18,960 You gave me friends, you gave me a job, you gave me everything I 542 00:28:18,960 --> 00:28:20,920 needed in that season where I thought I had nothing. 543 00:28:21,880 --> 00:28:24,960 The awareness of grace gives you joy. 544 00:28:24,960 --> 00:28:27,480 Joy is the Christian's superpower. 545 00:28:27,600 --> 00:28:31,480 The second thing is the joy of the Lord is actually your 546 00:28:31,480 --> 00:28:35,600 protection. It's very interesting because 547 00:28:35,600 --> 00:28:39,360 when you realise just how protected you are when you when 548 00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:43,920 you give God praise from a grateful heart, the joy that 549 00:28:43,920 --> 00:28:47,480 resonates and comes back is what literally gives you the the 550 00:28:47,480 --> 00:28:49,800 adrenaline to keep moving forward. 551 00:28:50,320 --> 00:28:54,160 We have friends who are walking through seasons of ill health in 552 00:28:54,160 --> 00:28:57,680 their parents life and even as they're there for endless 553 00:28:57,680 --> 00:29:01,600 sessions of chemo radiation, when we meet these friends they 554 00:29:01,600 --> 00:29:05,200 have this weird strength just buzzing all around them. 555 00:29:06,000 --> 00:29:10,000 And I believe it's the joy of the Lord knowing that in this 556 00:29:10,000 --> 00:29:12,760 season it is hard. Yes, we're not denying how hard 557 00:29:12,760 --> 00:29:15,480 it is, we're not denying that this feels unfair, but we're 558 00:29:15,480 --> 00:29:17,320 still able to see God's hand upon us. 559 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:19,600 We're able to see the favour with doctors, we're able to see 560 00:29:19,600 --> 00:29:22,240 these the goodness of God and the kindness of nurses. 561 00:29:23,000 --> 00:29:26,120 And then there's this unexplainable joy in the darkest 562 00:29:26,120 --> 00:29:29,160 of places. It is your superpower. 563 00:29:29,160 --> 00:29:31,800 It's your protection. Why is it your protection? 564 00:29:32,080 --> 00:29:33,760 The joy of the Lord is my strength. 565 00:29:33,760 --> 00:29:36,760 The word strength there is not just brute strength. 566 00:29:36,880 --> 00:29:39,800 It's actually saying God is like it's like a refuge. 567 00:29:40,680 --> 00:29:45,560 Joy is like a refuge. Will there be Causeway to grieve 568 00:29:45,560 --> 00:29:49,280 in our lives just like those returned exiles were weeping 569 00:29:49,280 --> 00:29:54,280 when they heard the word yes. Will intimidation grow as your 570 00:29:54,280 --> 00:29:56,040 responsibilities increase? Yes. 571 00:29:57,120 --> 00:30:01,600 The beauty is that in all of it you will see the fingerprints of 572 00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:04,120 Jesus. You will see the fingerprints of 573 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:07,320 grace throughout your life. You will experience so much of 574 00:30:07,320 --> 00:30:09,360 His grace it will shock and awe you. 575 00:30:11,000 --> 00:30:12,280 I want to give you an illustration. 576 00:30:12,280 --> 00:30:15,280 This week as I was preparing this, I was asking God, Lord, 577 00:30:15,280 --> 00:30:17,520 explain this to me. I understand what the fear of 578 00:30:17,520 --> 00:30:19,760 God is. I, I come from a family where 579 00:30:19,760 --> 00:30:24,600 for generations and my ancestors have have feared God and we see 580 00:30:24,600 --> 00:30:26,080 that. We see the beautiful 581 00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:28,600 consequences of that in current generations. 582 00:30:28,960 --> 00:30:32,040 And so I know what it's like to live in the fear of God, but 583 00:30:32,040 --> 00:30:36,480 Lord, how do we, how do we see this played out today in a 584 00:30:36,480 --> 00:30:39,360 generation where the fear, even using the word fear of the Lord 585 00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:40,960 is like taboo? They're like, what are you 586 00:30:40,960 --> 00:30:42,160 saying? God is accessible. 587 00:30:42,160 --> 00:30:44,920 God is here. I can do anything to get to him. 588 00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:47,600 He is loving and I'm not going to deny that. 589 00:30:47,600 --> 00:30:50,680 God is loving. God is loving, God is all 590 00:30:50,680 --> 00:30:54,880 powerful, God is all loving, He's forgiving, He's gracious, 591 00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:59,440 but God is calling his remnant to live in a very different way. 592 00:30:59,840 --> 00:31:03,920 And many times, this is the illustration God gave me. 593 00:31:03,920 --> 00:31:06,160 Many times our lives are like this. 594 00:31:06,160 --> 00:31:08,840 You know, if this is me, I want you to look at the person's 595 00:31:08,840 --> 00:31:10,120 face. She looks quite unhappy. 596 00:31:10,720 --> 00:31:13,280 This is me. I have my dreams, my ambitions, 597 00:31:13,640 --> 00:31:16,640 and then I have my office life, I have my school life, I have my 598 00:31:16,640 --> 00:31:20,080 work life, I have my community life, I have my relational life. 599 00:31:21,240 --> 00:31:23,680 And for you, it could be a bunch of different things, your work, 600 00:31:23,680 --> 00:31:25,480 your family or you know, whatever. 601 00:31:25,840 --> 00:31:29,680 But what we do so often is that when I lack a fear of God, when 602 00:31:29,680 --> 00:31:33,480 I am more content in in running life the way I see fit. 603 00:31:33,680 --> 00:31:36,920 Of course, I'm a Christian. I pray, I read the word when I 604 00:31:36,920 --> 00:31:40,040 can. But there's this one aspect 605 00:31:40,040 --> 00:31:43,320 that's missing in my life when I choose not to live in complete 606 00:31:43,320 --> 00:31:46,120 radical obedience to God, where I take my hands off the steering 607 00:31:46,120 --> 00:31:47,840 wheel and say, Lord, it's only you. 608 00:31:48,160 --> 00:31:50,960 What I tend to do is, and I've noticed this in my life, is I 609 00:31:50,960 --> 00:31:54,120 start to build refuges for every part of my life. 610 00:31:54,320 --> 00:31:57,920 I start to build a tighter circle around my family to 611 00:31:57,920 --> 00:31:59,960 protect them. I start to build this this 612 00:31:59,960 --> 00:32:04,240 system in my office where I'm protected from feedback from my 613 00:32:04,240 --> 00:32:06,160 bosses. I start to build up this thing 614 00:32:06,160 --> 00:32:09,680 in my community where I live for myself and not for others. 615 00:32:09,880 --> 00:32:12,080 I start to build these silos in my life. 616 00:32:12,480 --> 00:32:15,120 And the interesting thing about living without the fear of God 617 00:32:15,120 --> 00:32:18,040 is when I'm living in these silos through the week, I have 618 00:32:18,040 --> 00:32:21,040 these different silos. I behave differently at church. 619 00:32:21,680 --> 00:32:25,240 I behave differently at home. I behave differently when I go 620 00:32:25,240 --> 00:32:27,920 out shopping with friends. There are distinct 621 00:32:27,920 --> 00:32:31,760 personalities, and at one point you don't know which 622 00:32:31,760 --> 00:32:33,800 personalities are operating in which. 623 00:32:35,000 --> 00:32:38,080 I have the fear of God when I go into church, but the minute I 624 00:32:38,080 --> 00:32:41,920 leave, get into my car and drive home, I have this terrific 625 00:32:41,920 --> 00:32:45,640 urgency to scream at someone on the road, to use foul language 626 00:32:46,080 --> 00:32:48,160 to treat people at home like they're worthless. 627 00:32:48,520 --> 00:32:53,400 And then my week begins and I I, I do the the weirdest things. 628 00:32:53,760 --> 00:32:57,880 I indulge in things that absolutely shouldn't simply 629 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:01,280 because the missing factor is the fear of the Lord. 630 00:33:02,320 --> 00:33:09,280 Now suppose I choose, suppose I choose to avidly pursue God, to 631 00:33:09,880 --> 00:33:14,080 read his word, to soak in it. I begin to live in the fear of 632 00:33:14,080 --> 00:33:16,200 God. My life begins to look 633 00:33:16,200 --> 00:33:18,000 different. How so? 634 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:20,840 How so? What do I mean by that? 635 00:33:21,040 --> 00:33:24,960 Well, I no longer build silos. You know, I breakdown those 636 00:33:24,960 --> 00:33:29,200 walls that I've created. I live a little more free before 637 00:33:29,200 --> 00:33:30,800 God. And you know, in the centre of 638 00:33:30,800 --> 00:33:34,800 this, this life isn't me, it's Jesus. 639 00:33:35,960 --> 00:33:37,680 It's Jesus. Jesus is the centre of this 640 00:33:37,680 --> 00:33:39,680 life. And So what happens is, like 641 00:33:39,680 --> 00:33:43,120 Geshom taught us last week, we need to come to a place of 642 00:33:43,120 --> 00:33:45,760 surrendering our will before God. 643 00:33:45,840 --> 00:33:48,680 When I was working on this with my son, he and I were so 644 00:33:48,680 --> 00:33:50,960 desperately trying to fix this person on their feet. 645 00:33:51,320 --> 00:33:54,440 And it just felt like a very sweet moment when he bent this 646 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:57,400 woman and he said, mum, let's just lean her on this. 647 00:33:58,440 --> 00:34:01,160 And it felt like that's what it looks like to live in the fear 648 00:34:01,160 --> 00:34:04,840 of God, complete surrendered will to God. 649 00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:08,719 And what happens is it's so beautiful that the little silos 650 00:34:08,719 --> 00:34:13,960 I built the walls fall off. And the way I live privately 651 00:34:13,960 --> 00:34:17,199 before God, the kind of surrender that I bring to Him 652 00:34:17,400 --> 00:34:19,840 starts to trickle into every area of my life. 653 00:34:20,239 --> 00:34:23,679 So the way I am at church is the way I am at home. 654 00:34:23,880 --> 00:34:26,080 The way I am at home is the way I am at work. 655 00:34:26,520 --> 00:34:28,679 The way I am at work is the way I am with friends. 656 00:34:28,960 --> 00:34:30,679 There is no partition. There is no 657 00:34:30,679 --> 00:34:33,639 compartmentalization. All of it is being touched by 658 00:34:33,639 --> 00:34:36,520 the presence of God. Jesus is involved in everything. 659 00:34:36,520 --> 00:34:40,400 So I'm choosing to please Him in the way I live at home. 660 00:34:40,560 --> 00:34:43,360 I'm choosing to please him with my words that I use with those 661 00:34:43,360 --> 00:34:46,120 who work for me at office. I'm choosing to be kind to the 662 00:34:46,120 --> 00:34:49,679 women who helped me at home because now I have a fear of God 663 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:51,920 because I'm so much more aware of who he is. 664 00:34:52,120 --> 00:34:54,719 And the beautiful thing is, you may think, well, these kind of 665 00:34:54,719 --> 00:34:57,520 houses are so, these kind of compartments are so open-ended. 666 00:34:57,520 --> 00:35:00,120 Where is the protection? And that's what I want to 667 00:35:00,120 --> 00:35:03,640 encourage you with that when you start living with this fear of 668 00:35:03,640 --> 00:35:07,640 God, the joy of the Lord becomes your strength. 669 00:35:07,800 --> 00:35:11,440 And like I said, strength is not just brute strength, it is a 670 00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:15,840 fortress. I start to rejoice in every area 671 00:35:15,840 --> 00:35:18,040 of my life because I start to see God move. 672 00:35:18,920 --> 00:35:20,440 I start to see God in my children. 673 00:35:20,440 --> 00:35:23,080 I start to see God see God in my spouse. 674 00:35:23,080 --> 00:35:27,080 I start to see God moving and shaping me through my employers 675 00:35:27,080 --> 00:35:29,920 at work. I start to see God when I step 676 00:35:29,920 --> 00:35:33,560 into the supermarket. I see His provision in my life. 677 00:35:33,760 --> 00:35:36,080 And you see how that shapes every part of our life. 678 00:35:36,400 --> 00:35:37,640 This is what I want to encourage you. 679 00:35:37,640 --> 00:35:43,360 The fear of God is not just bowing before him, it is living 680 00:35:43,360 --> 00:35:47,080 in such a way that your entire life is placed exposed before 681 00:35:47,080 --> 00:35:49,040 him. And you saying Lord, you can do 682 00:35:49,040 --> 00:35:52,160 with it as you will. Of the fear of God is 1. 683 00:35:53,160 --> 00:35:56,960 Like the the the writer of Proverbs repeatedly says, the 684 00:35:56,960 --> 00:35:58,680 fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. 685 00:35:58,840 --> 00:36:01,560 The fear of the Lord keeps one's life secure. 686 00:36:02,320 --> 00:36:07,000 When you live with the fear of God, it protects your life, it 687 00:36:07,000 --> 00:36:09,760 sets you apart. You are no longer one with 688 00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:10,880 others. You are different. 689 00:36:11,080 --> 00:36:13,440 And when you are set apart, he protects you. 690 00:36:13,680 --> 00:36:16,960 His joy floods your soul. When you are living in a right 691 00:36:16,960 --> 00:36:20,640 relationship with Him, the joy of the Lord will be your 692 00:36:20,640 --> 00:36:22,480 strength. And I want to just encourage you 693 00:36:22,480 --> 00:36:24,600 with this. If you're saying I don't know 694 00:36:24,600 --> 00:36:27,760 what it's like to live with the fear of God. 695 00:36:28,240 --> 00:36:30,880 This is what 2 Corinthians Chapter 7 verse one says. 696 00:36:30,880 --> 00:36:34,280 He says, since we have these promises, dear friends, let us 697 00:36:34,280 --> 00:36:38,080 purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and 698 00:36:38,080 --> 00:36:42,120 spirit, perfecting holiness out of reverence for God. 699 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:45,400 God is calling you to be holy because he is holy. 700 00:36:45,920 --> 00:36:48,200 How does that work? It's not saying the right thing 701 00:36:48,200 --> 00:36:50,840 at the right time. It is going deeper and saying, 702 00:36:50,840 --> 00:36:53,000 Lord, I fear you. Teach me. 703 00:36:53,040 --> 00:36:55,320 Show me what is contaminating my body. 704 00:36:55,440 --> 00:36:57,760 Show me what I'm consuming that is so bad for me. 705 00:36:57,880 --> 00:37:01,480 Show me what is contaminating my spirit and teach me how to 706 00:37:01,480 --> 00:37:05,480 remove it. One Peter 117 says since you 707 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:09,560 call on a father who judges each person's work impartially, live 708 00:37:09,560 --> 00:37:14,000 out your time as foreigners here in reverent fear. 709 00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:17,640 We are not citizens of earth. We are citizens of heaven. 710 00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:23,080 How we live matters. I was reading this portion in 711 00:37:23,080 --> 00:37:26,600 Ezekiel, Ezekiel chapter 33, where God was talking to the 712 00:37:26,600 --> 00:37:29,360 prophet about his task and saying, you know what, I will 713 00:37:29,360 --> 00:37:32,680 tell you to say some things you say it, if they turn or not is 714 00:37:32,680 --> 00:37:36,000 on them, right? And the basic thing that he kept 715 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:38,360 saying, verses 17 to 20 was very interesting. 716 00:37:38,680 --> 00:37:43,640 It says, your people say the Master's way isn't fair, but 717 00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:45,480 it's the way they're living that isn't fair. 718 00:37:45,880 --> 00:37:48,840 When good people turn back from living good lives and plunge 719 00:37:48,840 --> 00:37:51,960 into sin, they'll die for it. And when a wicked person turns 720 00:37:51,960 --> 00:37:54,800 away from his wicked life and starts living a just and 721 00:37:54,800 --> 00:37:56,160 righteous life, he'll come alive. 722 00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:58,920 Still, you keep on saying the Master's way isn't fair. 723 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:01,880 We'll see. Israel, I'll decide on each of 724 00:38:01,880 --> 00:38:05,520 you exactly according to how you live. 725 00:38:06,600 --> 00:38:09,200 The fear of God will dictate how you live. 726 00:38:10,240 --> 00:38:12,240 It's how you will speak to people. 727 00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:15,720 It is how you will behave with people that you know and do not 728 00:38:15,720 --> 00:38:17,400 know. He is concerned. 729 00:38:17,400 --> 00:38:21,880 The Kingdom life is far more than just reading the Word and 730 00:38:21,880 --> 00:38:24,200 going away. It's far more than just knowing 731 00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:26,480 Jesus at face value and walking away. 732 00:38:26,640 --> 00:38:30,680 The Kingdom life goes deep and it'll undo you in the best way 733 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:33,600 so that you can live in a way that pleases the Master. 734 00:38:33,600 --> 00:38:36,880 Maybe you are someone who has said the Master's way is not 735 00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:38,720 what I want. It's too restrictive. 736 00:38:39,600 --> 00:38:41,280 It's a narrow gate. I don't want to go through it. 737 00:38:41,280 --> 00:38:44,800 It's true, it is a narrow gate. But if you want to be set apart 738 00:38:44,800 --> 00:38:48,520 in a world that is fast fading away, a world that is headed in 739 00:38:48,520 --> 00:38:51,600 a dark direction, you and I need to be very clear that we will 740 00:38:51,600 --> 00:38:55,880 live in the fear of the Lord. And when we do, we will 741 00:38:55,880 --> 00:38:59,040 experience the joy of the Lord, which will be our fortress, 742 00:38:59,240 --> 00:39:03,880 which will be our protection. Like I said, believer in Jesus, 743 00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:06,160 your superpower is the joy that God gives you. 744 00:39:07,240 --> 00:39:10,680 Without it, you cannot handle what comes at you. 745 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:13,200 You need the joy of the law to be a protection. 746 00:39:14,640 --> 00:39:18,120 It is a refuge. It is not a fake place of just 747 00:39:18,120 --> 00:39:19,520 pretending everything is alright. 748 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:21,880 It's not a place of just feeling high on feelings. 749 00:39:22,160 --> 00:39:24,520 No, it is a deep thing. Because remember, happiness is 750 00:39:24,520 --> 00:39:28,440 circumstantial, but joy is existential. 751 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:31,160 You need it for your life. You cannot live without it. 752 00:39:31,840 --> 00:39:35,040 Ask the Holy Spirit, in this situation that I'm in, in this 753 00:39:35,040 --> 00:39:38,480 broken marriage, in this broken relationship, in these endless 754 00:39:38,480 --> 00:39:42,080 strife and conflict, in this ailment, where can I find the 755 00:39:42,080 --> 00:39:44,920 joy? Holy Spirit, dig deep within me. 756 00:39:45,160 --> 00:39:48,320 Bring out gratitude so that it overflows into joy. 757 00:39:50,360 --> 00:39:52,840 Philippians 4/4 Remember that famous passage? 758 00:39:52,840 --> 00:39:55,080 We used to sing it as kids. Rejoice in the Lord again, I 759 00:39:55,080 --> 00:39:57,400 say, rejoice in the passion. It says this. 760 00:39:57,400 --> 00:40:00,600 Be cheerful with joy celebration in every season of life. 761 00:40:00,880 --> 00:40:05,360 Let your joy overflow. I love hanging out with people 762 00:40:05,520 --> 00:40:08,880 whose joy is contagious. You sit next to them for 10 763 00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:10,440 minutes. You feel better about yourself 764 00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:12,720 and that's what God is calling us to. 765 00:40:12,720 --> 00:40:17,280 In a world where everyone wants to fit in, God is asking you to 766 00:40:17,280 --> 00:40:20,360 stand out. Because when you do stand out, 767 00:40:20,960 --> 00:40:22,800 you will stand out because you fear the Lord. 768 00:40:23,320 --> 00:40:27,320 You stand out because you stand for what is right and not for 769 00:40:27,320 --> 00:40:32,040 what works for everyone else. As I close, I want to just leave 770 00:40:32,040 --> 00:40:36,160 this picture with you. Like we saw two different homes 771 00:40:37,200 --> 00:40:40,560 as Jesus hung on the cross. He was hung in between two 772 00:40:40,560 --> 00:40:43,920 criminals. We don't know what crimes they 773 00:40:43,920 --> 00:40:46,040 committed, but they were suffering along with Jesus. 774 00:40:46,400 --> 00:40:49,920 And one guy screams at Jesus, berates him, shames him and 775 00:40:49,920 --> 00:40:51,400 says, why don't you get yourself down? 776 00:40:51,400 --> 00:40:53,560 You were God. Get yourself down and get us 777 00:40:53,560 --> 00:40:57,360 down. You see the cynicism, You see 778 00:40:57,360 --> 00:41:02,040 the condescension. But the other criminal looks 779 00:41:02,040 --> 00:41:05,280 over at him and says made him shut up. 780 00:41:05,280 --> 00:41:07,800 It says in the message version it says, have you No Fear of 781 00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:10,560 God? You're getting the same as him. 782 00:41:10,560 --> 00:41:15,480 We deserve this, but not him. He did nothing to deserve this. 783 00:41:16,480 --> 00:41:20,120 This was a guy who knew that God was in his midst. 784 00:41:20,640 --> 00:41:24,040 He knew that this man was sinless. 785 00:41:24,280 --> 00:41:28,800 They were sinful. Too many of us in this day and 786 00:41:28,800 --> 00:41:31,800 age think that we can poke fingers at God. 787 00:41:32,400 --> 00:41:33,920 God, do you know what you're even doing? 788 00:41:34,320 --> 00:41:36,960 You take good people away. You let the bad ones remain God. 789 00:41:37,200 --> 00:41:38,920 You're letting nations go through war. 790 00:41:39,560 --> 00:41:42,080 We are asking questions that are way above our pay grade. 791 00:41:42,640 --> 00:41:47,880 He is God, period. He is mighty, he's awesome, he's 792 00:41:47,880 --> 00:41:49,920 generous, he's forgiving, he's loving. 793 00:41:50,560 --> 00:41:52,800 But he's God. We are not. 794 00:41:53,840 --> 00:41:56,800 We were created for relationship. 795 00:41:56,800 --> 00:42:01,080 We were born again to know him. But in knowing him I don't get 796 00:42:01,120 --> 00:42:03,360 equal to him. I love that exchange between 797 00:42:03,840 --> 00:42:07,440 Abraham and God when they're negotiating for Sodom. 798 00:42:07,880 --> 00:42:11,360 But never, even though Abraham was a friend of God, never did 799 00:42:11,360 --> 00:42:13,680 he equate himself to God. There was always something where 800 00:42:13,680 --> 00:42:18,680 he was submitted to him. And just like that, that that 801 00:42:18,680 --> 00:42:23,600 thief on the cross who knew who God was, he ended it by saying, 802 00:42:23,600 --> 00:42:26,080 Jesus, Remember Me when you enter your Kingdom. 803 00:42:26,400 --> 00:42:30,520 He knew who he was talking to. He knew the level was not the 804 00:42:30,520 --> 00:42:32,840 same. He displayed a fear. 805 00:42:32,840 --> 00:42:34,600 He asked him, do you have No Fear of God? 806 00:42:34,800 --> 00:42:36,720 And what is the beautiful thing that Jesus replies? 807 00:42:36,840 --> 00:42:40,080 He says today you will be with me in paradise. 808 00:42:42,280 --> 00:42:45,560 Paradise is our eternity, is our destination. 809 00:42:46,080 --> 00:42:48,240 It begins the minute you say yes to Jesus. 810 00:42:48,440 --> 00:42:51,160 But sometimes we don't feel very much like we're in paradise 811 00:42:51,160 --> 00:42:54,800 because the stuff that hits us, the intimidation, the 812 00:42:54,800 --> 00:42:59,160 opposition, the setbacks make us feel like there is no room for 813 00:42:59,160 --> 00:43:02,080 joy. But God is saying the joy of the 814 00:43:02,080 --> 00:43:04,480 Lord is your strength. It is what will protect you. 815 00:43:04,680 --> 00:43:07,640 But in order to tap into that, you and I need to live in 816 00:43:07,640 --> 00:43:12,120 alignment with God himself. We need to live with the holy, 817 00:43:12,600 --> 00:43:16,520 reverent awe of God. God is calling us back. 818 00:43:16,520 --> 00:43:19,560 The remnants need to rise up in the fear of the Lord. 819 00:43:19,760 --> 00:43:22,640 How you live, how you treat your wife, how you treat your 820 00:43:22,640 --> 00:43:26,440 husband, how you love your children, how you position 821 00:43:26,440 --> 00:43:29,480 yourself at work, how you don't push yourself but allow God to 822 00:43:29,480 --> 00:43:34,000 elevate you will determine whether others will be drawn 823 00:43:34,000 --> 00:43:36,640 into the Kingdom. It will determine whether God 824 00:43:36,640 --> 00:43:38,320 looks at you and said you feared me. 825 00:43:39,160 --> 00:43:40,640 You lived in a way that honoured me. 826 00:43:41,000 --> 00:43:43,840 Well done. It may trickle down to the 827 00:43:43,840 --> 00:43:45,720 smaller things. Maybe you run a business. 828 00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:48,000 How do you treat the vendors who work with you? 829 00:43:49,040 --> 00:43:52,760 Maybe you have a huge position. You have people at your beck and 830 00:43:52,760 --> 00:43:53,840 call. How do you treat them? 831 00:43:55,640 --> 00:43:59,960 How do you look after the people that help you out? 832 00:44:01,440 --> 00:44:05,200 It'll all come down to this. How we live is how the Master 833 00:44:05,480 --> 00:44:07,520 will look at us. I entrusted you with this. 834 00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:10,400 What did you do with it? Some of us are looking at life 835 00:44:10,400 --> 00:44:13,560 just through the lens of our finances, through our money. 836 00:44:13,720 --> 00:44:15,320 Oh, I have this much, what do I do with it? 837 00:44:15,400 --> 00:44:18,120 I need to grow it. God is saying who did you bless 838 00:44:18,120 --> 00:44:21,640 with that? Did you hold on South tight that 839 00:44:21,640 --> 00:44:24,280 you never let your money grow so that it would be useful for the 840 00:44:24,280 --> 00:44:26,960 Kingdom? God is calling us back and 841 00:44:26,960 --> 00:44:29,640 saying this is who I am. Who will you be? 842 00:44:30,000 --> 00:44:32,600 How will you live? As we pray? 843 00:44:32,600 --> 00:44:36,360 I want to just end by saying will we be? 844 00:44:37,040 --> 00:44:41,280 We are all sinners saved by grace, but will we be like that 845 00:44:41,280 --> 00:44:44,240 criminal who looked at God and say Lord you be God in my life. 846 00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:49,680 I am tired of trying to be God. I'm tired, tired of viewing 847 00:44:49,680 --> 00:44:52,680 others as God and fearing them over fearing you. 848 00:44:52,680 --> 00:44:55,320 God. Can we just ask him that? 849 00:44:56,000 --> 00:44:58,920 Father, I just bring everyone of us before you, the remnant 850 00:44:58,920 --> 00:45:02,280 chosen by grace. We thank you for Jesus, your 851 00:45:02,280 --> 00:45:04,120 Son. We thank you that when we look 852 00:45:04,120 --> 00:45:06,040 at him we realise just how blessed we are. 853 00:45:06,240 --> 00:45:08,840 And that in itself is cause for joy. 854 00:45:09,440 --> 00:45:11,880 And so, Father, today we're irrespective of the season we 855 00:45:11,880 --> 00:45:14,600 are in, we rejoice with cheerfulness, for you are with 856 00:45:14,600 --> 00:45:18,080 us, you are in US, you are carrying us, and you will lead 857 00:45:18,080 --> 00:45:20,800 us. Father, I pray for those of us 858 00:45:20,800 --> 00:45:25,840 who have turned away from you saying, I don't want to fear 859 00:45:25,840 --> 00:45:29,560 this God, I don't want this. This doesn't make sense for me. 860 00:45:29,840 --> 00:45:32,480 Father, I pray that you will soften hearts. 861 00:45:33,000 --> 00:45:36,320 You will draw them back to you. If you are one such person, will 862 00:45:36,320 --> 00:45:40,360 you say, Jesus, I come back, I come back to you. 863 00:45:40,480 --> 00:45:45,520 I will live in awe of you for your mighty deeds, your 864 00:45:45,560 --> 00:45:48,200 outstretched arms, for the things you have done before and 865 00:45:48,200 --> 00:45:51,640 the things you will do again. I thank you God, that you are 866 00:45:51,640 --> 00:45:57,000 drawing many back to live with a holy fear of you. 867 00:45:57,760 --> 00:45:59,800 I pray that you would strengthen us in this journey. 868 00:45:59,800 --> 00:46:02,360 Thank you that you have given us everything we need to run this 869 00:46:02,360 --> 00:46:04,360 race. We thank you that we are not 870 00:46:04,360 --> 00:46:07,040 alone. We thank you that you go before 871 00:46:07,040 --> 00:46:10,160 us, that you are behind us, you are all around us. 872 00:46:10,520 --> 00:46:14,320 We thank you for your Spirit who produces joy in our life that 873 00:46:14,320 --> 00:46:17,920 many will taste and many will want for themselves. 874 00:46:19,040 --> 00:46:23,200 We love you, we honour you, we thank you in Jesus name, Amen, 875 00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:25,080 Amen. God bless you. 876 00:46:25,080 --> 00:46:28,280 May you walk the journey of your life, not just this week. 877 00:46:28,280 --> 00:46:30,680 This is not something for you to just think for this week, for 878 00:46:30,680 --> 00:46:33,360 the rest of your life on earth that you would walk with the 879 00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:36,680 fear of God and you will experience the joy of the Lord 880 00:46:36,880 --> 00:46:38,600 to be your strength. God bless you. 881 00:46:45,090 --> 00:46:46,930 Thanks for listening to this message. 882 00:46:47,290 --> 00:46:50,770 We hope you were blessed to hear more messages like this. 883 00:46:51,090 --> 00:46:55,130 Make sure to subscribe and check out our podcast channel for past 884 00:46:55,130 --> 00:46:57,450 episodes. If you like what you are 885 00:46:57,450 --> 00:47:02,010 hearing, consider rating us, subscribing and even sharing it 886 00:47:02,010 --> 00:47:04,570 with friends. That would really help us. 887 00:47:05,290 --> 00:47:09,840 For more content from Via Zion and to connect with us, go to 888 00:47:09,840 --> 00:47:15,040 viazion.in. Remember, whoever finds Jesus 889 00:47:15,320 --> 00:47:16,080 finds life.