April 9, 2025

Fear: Law and Gospel Pt 2

Fear: Law and Gospel Pt 2

I explain how we should look at the subject of fear from the a proper law/gospel perspective

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I explain how we should look at the subject of fear from the a proper law/gospel perspective

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Looking at our world from a theological perspective. This is

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the Theology Central podcast making Theology Central. Good morning everyone.

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It is Wednesday, April the ninth, twenty twenty five. It

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is currently ten forty four am Central Time, and I'm

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coming to you live from the Theology Central studio located

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right here in Abilene, Texas. Well. It all started with

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a newspaper, the sort of the Lord Newspaper to be exact,

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page twenty one. There's an article entitled Faithfully Facing Fears fearlessly.

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Faithfully facing your fears fearlessly. Try saying that five times fast,

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all right, faithfully facing your fears fearlessly. And the next

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thing you know, we were talking about fears and phobia.

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We traced how Christianity has handled the subject of fear

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throughout Church history, all the different traditions and how they've

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approached it. I talked about what I feel is a

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glaring inconsistency that on one hand, Christianity is like, don't fear,

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do not fear, do not have fear, and then five

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seconds later they're like, fear this, worry about this? Oh no,

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this is going to destroy us panic, fear, worry, Hey, no, no, no, no, no,

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don't have fear, don't worry, and it's like, well, which

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is it. So we talked about all of that, but

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today we come to I think the most important part

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of this discussion. In fact, this is the reason we're

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having this discussion. We are going to look at the

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subject of fear in a very different way. I believe

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one of the major issues in the church in twenty

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twenty five, and this has been true for a very

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very long time, is that a majority of the church

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no longer looks at things from a proper law gospel perspective.

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A true law gospel perspective has been lost by most

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of the church and by most Christians, and I believe

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that is majorly problematic and it leads to a lot

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of philological issues. So today we're going to return to

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this subject of fear. And I think if we're even

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remotely honest with ourselves, if even if we I know

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some of you will try to pretend I don't have

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any fear, I don't have any worry, I don't have

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any any anxiety, because I know that's what you're supposed

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to say, because you love church answers, and you know

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what you're supposed to pretend to be. But if you're,

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if we can pill back all of that facade, all

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of your you know, I hate to say it, being

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a poser, all your posturing, if we really get down

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to it inside of you, if you're even if you're

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even remotely honest. Fear touches every single one of us. Fear, worry,

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and anxiety. Now, for some of us, maybe we carry

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it like a heavy coat that we can't take off.

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Maybe others of us hide it so very well, but

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it's always buzzing beneath the surface to some level. And

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a lot of times I don't I'm not worried about this.

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I don't have any fear. I don't have any anxiety

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about this. But sometimes when the right situation start forming,

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we see that fear, We see that panic, we see

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that worry in so many different ways. It may not

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be the way you think, but it's there, over and

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over and over again. And I think for many people,

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whether we want to admit it or not, we live

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with a quiet, persistent dread. Maybe fear of the future,

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maybe fear of failure, maybe fear of being alone, maybe

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fear of beings, maybe fear that we we're just we're

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just not enough, maybe just fear about so many things.

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I mean, the list could be long. If we're honest.

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Fear shows up in nearly every corner of life. And

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you know what, I think this is very important. What's

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important to know. What's striking is that the Bible speaks

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directly to it, repeatedly. Fear not, do not worry, be

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anxious for nothing. Now these aren't suggestions, these are commands.

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God actually tells us not to fear, not to worry,

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not to be anxious. But here's the tension we face.

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We do fear, we do worry, we do have anxiety,

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we are bothered, we are concerned. No, we know the commands.

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We may memorize the commands. We may put them on

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the refrigerator. We may talk about them in small group.

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We may hear sermons preached on it. We may write

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down the five step plan to not fear, and we're

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gonna do this, and we're gonna do that, and we're

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gonna be like this, and we're going to do this.

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And we may buy books on the subject, and we

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may go to sermons that almost sound like a self

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help program. And we've writen down all the techniques but

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the reality is you still fear, you still worry, you

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still have anxiety, even if you're telling everyone, well, I'm

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not really worried because you know, I trust in God

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and I'm not really afraid. Yeah, But then the reality

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is everyone can see the worry and the fear in

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the anxiety because it's there now. Guess what, Then that

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leads us to fear worrying anxiety because we're having fear

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wearing anxiety and we're not supposed to be having fear

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worried anxiety. So then we feel guilt and shame and

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feel like a felt Okay, it just becomes this very

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very very very never ending like hamster will of guilt,

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regret and shame and trying harder. So how do we

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read these verses without falling in to that guilt shame

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or or falling into some kind of pretending and some

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kind of pretense. How do we read these verses and

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not end up and complete spiritual burnout because we've tried

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everything and we still are filled with all of these

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feelings and all of these emotions. Many sermons and devotionals

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treat these commands like strategies, and that's what most pastors

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do they treat all of these commands and all these

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scriptures like it's a strategy. Here's how to stop being afraid.

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Just pray more, trust more, believe harder, just stop it.

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Just trust God. Remember his power, remember his sovereignty, remember

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his ability. Stop looking at your inability, stop looking at

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your situations. And they say all the right things and

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you're like, yes, I'm going to do it, and then well,

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you know what happens And ultimately all of that just

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turns Christianity or the Christian life into some type of

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a technique. And what happens when those techniques don't work,

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When we're left feeling like failures are worse, we feel

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like frauds. So today, in this episode, I'm going to

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approach the subject the only way I think the scriptures

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can be properly understood, and that is with a true

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law Gospel perspective. That's the only thing, and what I'm

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going to try to teach you before this is over,

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is that you need to approach every subject from a

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law Gospel perspective. It can be fear, it can be

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worried and being anxiety. You name the subject, you should

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understand it from a law Gospel perspective, you have to.

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So what does this mean? What means I'm going to

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take the commands seriously? All right, I'm going to take

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them as God's law. I'm not gonna water them down.

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I'm not gonna say, well, as long as you're trying,

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and I mean, you're not gonna do it perfectly, but

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that's okay. No, no, no, We're going to take the

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command seriously. Anytime you read the Bible and there is

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a command, you don't water it down. You don't explain

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it away. You don't say, well, God just wants you

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to do your best. No, you say it's a command

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and God demands perfection the end. Any other approach to

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commands is ridiculous. It's like, well, it's just about no,

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he wants you to do it this way because he

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demands perfection. And we're gonna let those commands expose our

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hearts and confront our weaknesses. We're gonna take the command seriously.

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We're not gonna water them down, and we're gonna let

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them show us who we really are. And then we're

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gonna let the law do exactly what it was meant

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to do, drive us to Christ, who alone perfectly obeyed

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these commands. It was Jesus who slept through the storm.

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It was Jesus who walked into death without flinching. It

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was Jesus who entrusted himself to the Father even when

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he felt abandoned. It was Jesus who fulfilled every command

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to fear not. It was Jesus and his obedience which

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is now accredited to us. So just in case you

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maybe you're someone who has felt these things. Maybe you

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want to pretend you haven't felt these things, but hey,

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if you've if you're if you've ever felt that you

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are failing God because you're afraid, if you've ever felt

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that you know, I can't even admit that I'm afraid

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because I can't even admit that I'm worried or have anxiety.

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If you've ever felt that way, if you've ever felt

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that your anxiety somehow disqualifies you from having real faith,

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you're if you're ever someone that felt that peace is

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something for stronger Christians and you've not yet seemed to

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get there and can't quite experience, well, then I hope

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that this episode is going to be beneficial because I'm

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definitely not here to say try harder stop fearing read

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more doom. I'm here to try to show you how

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Christ perfect his righteousness and trusting in him and in

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his sinless peace, and his unshackled rest and the Father

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has been given to you by grace alone. I want

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you to see that Christ had perfect trust. Let me

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state it this way. Christ had perfect trust, he had

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sinless peace, he had unrest, unshakable rest, and trust in

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the Father, and all of that has been given to

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you by grace alone. That's the way I should state that.

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Let me try it again. Here's what I want to

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show you in this episode. I want to show you

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that that perfect trust that Christ had in the Father,

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not my will, but your will be done. That perfect trust.

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He had perfect peace, sinless peace, he had an unshakable

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rest in the Father. All of that, all of that obedien,

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all of that perfection has been given to you and

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accredited to you by grace Salon. You don't get it

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because you try harder. It's been given to you by

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Grace Alan, It's been imputed to you, it's been accredited

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to your account. So we're gonna look at fear from

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a law gospel perspective. Then I'm gonna try to challenge

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you to kind of look at scriptures from a different

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way moving forward. So are you ready? Here we go.

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Scripture commands us not to fear, not to worry, not

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to be filled with anxiety or live a life of anxiety,

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or to be anxious about anything. You should not be

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anxious about anything. You're not to worry, You're not to fear.

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The Bible commands that. There's no watering it down. The

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Bible commands that. Here's some direct commands or imperatives in

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scripture Isaiah forty one to ten. Fear not for I

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am with you. Now, we could get into a discussion

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that fear not you applies to Israel within their context.

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I understand that, but I'm just going to approach that

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most Christians will preach these as being for us. So

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let's just say that's a command to fear not Deuteronomy,

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do not be afraid or discourage that Deuteronomy thirty one eight. Again,

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it has a historical context. Most pastors don't care about that,

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but so let's just go with the idea that these

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are imperatives in these commands. I'm not going to get

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into who they were four, but it's a command. Do

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not fear, do not be discouraged. Genesis fifteen to one,

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do not be afraid, Luke twelve thirty two, Fear not

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little flock, Matthew ten twenty eight. Do not fear those

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who kill the body. We can go to other scriptures

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to don't be filled with anxiety, don't give thought to

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what you're going to eat, what you're going to wear,

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don't you know? Over an other other scriptures about fear not,

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don't worry, don't be filled with anxiety. Those are commands,

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all right. We cannot we cannot deny that in any way,

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shape or form. They are commands. We have other scriptures

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like do not be anxious about your life Matthew chapter six,

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be anxious for nothing, Philippians chapter four. Cast all your

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anxiety on him, first Peter chapter five. So we could

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go through all of these scriptures Isaiah forty one to ten,

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Douteronomy thirty one eight, Genesis fifteen one, Luke twelve thirty two,

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Matthew ten twenty eight, Matthew six twenty five through thirty four,

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Philippians four eight, Be anxious for nothing, first Peter five seven.

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Cast all your anxiety on him. These are not suggestions.

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They're not gentle nudges. They are commands. The law says,

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do not fear, do not worry, trust fully completely trust,

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don't worry, don't fear. That's how Look, and if you've

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been to church in any length of time, you've heard

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sermons about don't worry, don't fear. God has not given

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you a spirit of fear. Don't do this. Stop it.

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It is wrong, it is sin. And you've written down

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all the scriptures and they'll give you the steps right

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and almost inevitably the steps are going to be pray more,

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read more, go to church more, do this, stop looking

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at this, look at things from this perspective, and you've

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written them all down, and you maybe you've convinced yourself

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you're following all of these commands. That's fine if you

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want to pretend. But these are not suggestions, they are commands.

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So the first thing I want you to see is

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that Scripture commands you not to fear, worry, or be anxious.

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I mean, I don't know sure I could look up

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each one of these passages of scripture and that would

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just become redundant. But you get the idea. The Bible

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is giving you a command. Do not be filled with fear,

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worry or anxiety. Do not do it. Trust God completely.

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And everybody will say amen to those commands. Then they'll

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want three or four points in how to do it.

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Then they run off to go do it. But here's

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the thing, here's number two. You cannot keep these commands.

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You cannot, you never will. You're going to fall short

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over and over and over again. Let's even just try

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to remotely be honest. There is some level of fear, worry,

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and anxiety that is present almost all the time. Now

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at that very moment, you may not be feeling the

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full effects of that fear, right because whatever you fear,

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you're not currently facing, you're not currently experiencing. So right

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now you can say, oh, I'm not afraid. You may

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not be afraid at this moment. But whatever those things

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are you are afraid of, it's just once those things

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present them themselves again, once the situation shows up, what

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you're confronted with it. We fear death, we fear loneliness,

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and Christians will say, oh, I don't fear death. Everyone

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always likes to talk a big game. That's what I

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notice about Christians. We love to talk a big game, people, fear, loneliness,

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financial ruin, public opinion, our kid's future, sickness, rejection, judgment,

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so many things. And even those who considered heroes of

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the faith did not live fearlessly. Remember the name of

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the article, facing faithfully, Facing your fears fearlessly. Even the

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heroes of the faith did not faith live their life

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facing fear fearlessly. Abraham lied about Sarah twice why because

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he was afraid. Genesis chapter twelve eleven through thirteen and

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Genesis Chapter twenty verse two. Moses feared Pharaoh and fled

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Exodus chapter two, fourteen through fifteen. David wrote, Psalms full

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of fear, dread and anxiety. My heart is in anguish

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Psalm fifty five. Elijah, after Mount Carmel's miracle, fled in

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fear of Jezebel and begged to die. One Kings Chapter nineteen. Jeremiah,

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I am full of fear Jeremiah Chapter six. Peter feared

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man so deeply that he denied Christ three times. Luke

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Chapter twenty two fifty four through sixty two. Paul spoke

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of being burdened beyond strength, so that we despaired even

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of life. Tewod Corinthians, Chapter one. I mean, over and

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over the Bible shows even the heroes of the faith fear, worry, anxiety, concern, anguish,

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doubt they express. We can read the words of job

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and the pain, frustration, confusion because the people in the Bible,

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even though we want to put them on some grand

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pedestal as if they were perfect, because we want to

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believe that everyone basically can be perfect, the reality, they

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were human beings who had fear, worry, and anxiety and

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did things when faced with sometimes difficult circumstances. We could

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go through the story of David in situations where he

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was fearful or in bad situations because of Absolom or whatever,

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or Saul or whatever. He was some of the things

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he did. You're like, that sounded like he was afraid, worry,

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filled with anxiety. He did not trust God. He came

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up with his own plan, and sometimes that plan ended

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up in other people dying. There's other cases that, well,

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he didn't show any fear here. That's okay, that's the

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way it works. As human beings and this situation, you

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may not show fear, doesn't mean you don't have fears,

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doesn't mean you don't have worries. Doesn't mean you don't

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have anxieties, just means in that particular situation, you don't.

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But the fears and worries and anxieties are still fair.

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You just sometimes need the right circumstance to show you

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that they are there. They basically fear, worrying, and anxiety.

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A lot of times we can go put it in

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the closet and say, see it's all taken care of.

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I'm a Christian, I trust call it. Everything is wonderful.

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All it takes is the right set of circumstances and

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the right situation and just brings the fear right back up.

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Not that it was ever gone, you just weren't facing

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certain situations. Fear, anxiety, and worry were a part of

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their lives that you can't get around that. And it's

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just like you and I. These commands, when taken seriously,

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they expose our constant failure to rest perfectly in God.

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That's what all those commands. Do not fear, be not worried,

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give no thought for this, don't do this, don't do that.

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You can read it. You can say, oh I'm gonna try,

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I'm gonna try. What you should do is like wait,

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a minute, Wait a minut wait a minute, trying, trying.

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You know what, this is just showing me that I can't.

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This is showing my failure. This is showing me who

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I am. And Christians have a hard time reading the

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Bible that way instead of going to the commands and saying, oh,

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the command is showing me that I can't. The command

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is showing me that I don't. The command is showing

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me who I am. No, no, no, no. We read it

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as oh, It's given me a five step program so

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that I can do it, because I can do it,

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and then I'm going to pretend that I am doing it.

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And the Church has been playing that game for way

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too long. We need to see the commands as actually

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showing us the reality of who we are. Man, I

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know I shouldn't have worry. I know I shouldn't have

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the anxiety. I know I shouldn't be discouraged. I know

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I should be trusting in God. I but you know what,

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I'm doing all of the things I'm not supposed to do.

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I'm filled with this worry, fear and anxiety and some circumstances.

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So Number one Scripture commands us not to fear or

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worry or be filled with anxiety. It commands us to

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do that. Number two, we cannot keep these commands. Even

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the saints failed, even the so called heroes of the

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faith failed over and over and over and over again.

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So that brings us to the third part. Christ alone

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obeyed these commands perfectly. Jesus never sinned Hebrews four fifteen.

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That includes sins of worry, sins of doubt, or sins

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of fear, and the storm. While his disciples panicked, he

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slept in peace, Mark chapter four, verses thirty seven through

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thirty nine. Let me go there, Mark chapter four, verses

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thirty seven through thirty nine. All right, we'll go to

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verse thirty five. Mark chapter four, verse thirty five. Right,

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look at this, Mark four thirty five. And the same day,

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when the even was come, he saith unto them, let

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us pass over into the other side. This is Mark

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four thirty five. Now verse thirty six. And when they

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had sent away the multitude, And when they had sent

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away the multitude, they took him. They took him even

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as he was in the ship, and they were also

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with him, with him other little ships verse thirty seven.

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And there rose a great storm of wind, and the

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waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.

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And he was in the hinder part of the ship,

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asleep on a pillow, and they they awake him, say,

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unto him, master Caros, not thou that we perish. And

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he arose and rebuked the wind and said into the sea,

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peace be still. And the wind ceased, and there was

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a great calm, and he said, unto them, why are

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ye so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?

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And they feared exceedingly, Why are you so fearful? Now?

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What pastors do? They preach this as hey, guys, stop

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being fearful. Trust that Jesus is in the boat. Trust

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that he's gonna calm the storm. Trust that He's gonna

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make everything right in your life. Now. The only problem

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with that is that that story has nothing to do

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with Jesus in the boat of your life, has nothing

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to do with him calming the storms in your life.

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Because he may not calm the storm in your life.

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Not only will the storm possibly get worse in your life,

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it may kill you, kill your loved ones, destroy everything.

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You have no guarantees in this life. So when preachers

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preach this, I want to scream because they're lying to people.

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The point of this story is these men who were

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with Jesus were scared to death and they had fear,

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and they are rebuked. They are condemned for them fear.

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And you say, well, so what should I take from that?

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Just as they were fearful, we are fearful and we

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are condemned for that fear because God gives us a

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command not to fear. So you should be like WHOA,

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I'm just like them. I see my fear, I see

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my worry, I see my anxiety. What do I do?

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What is the answer? Is the answer? Four steps? Try harder. No.

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What we have to see is we see our failure.

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But you know what else I see in that text?

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I see jesus obedience. I see his lack of fear.

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So Jesus never sinned. That includes sends a worried about

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in fear and in the storm. While the disciples panicked,

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he slept in peace. He did what they couldn't do.

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He did what they couldn't do. When facing arrest and death,

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he did not run, but he set his face to

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go to Jerusalem. Luke nine, verse fifty one, and Gasemine

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he was deeply distressed, yet he did not flee or rebel.

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He trusted the Father and submitted. Luke Chapter twenty two

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forty two through forty four. He may have cried out

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in anguish, but he trusted God. He may have expressed

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his anguish, but he didn't not sin. He was not

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overcome with fear, worried, and anxiety, because he ultimately said,

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not my will, but your will be done Before pilot,

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he remained calm, silent, and unshaken. John chapter nineteen nine

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through eleven. On the Cross, he endured the full terror

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of divine wrath, crying out in agony, but trusting. Even

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in death, he trusted. He did not. He was not

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filled with fear or anxiety or worry. He may have

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suffered pain, but he did not was overcome with worry, fear,

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or anxiety. Jesus then obeyed every single command about no fear,

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no worry, no anxiety. He ob bade them perfectly. Where

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you and I panic, he rests. He sleeps where we flee.

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He stood where we worry. He trusted. He fulfilled every

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command not to fear. We could say this. Where we panic,

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he rested, where we flee. He stood where we worry.

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He trusted. He fulfilled every single command of not fearing

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or being filled with worry and anxiety. So how do

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we look at this from a law gospel perspective? Number one, okay,

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Scripture commands us not to fear, worry, or be anxious.

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Number two, we cannot keep these commands. Even the saints failed.

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Number three, Christ alone obey these commands. Obey these commands.

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Number four. In Christ, we fulfill these commands. Positionally through

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faith we are united to Christ Galatians Chapter two, twenty two,

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Verse twenty, Romans six, verses three through five. And his

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obedience is counted as ours. By the obedience of the one,

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many will be made righteous Romans five nineteen. God made

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him who knew no sin, to be sin for us,

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so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

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Tewod Corinthians five twenty one. That's not that we become

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righteous in practice, as we are declared to be perfectly righteous. Positionally,

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there is now no condemnation for those who are in

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Christ Jesus Romans eight one. You know why there's therefore

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now no condemnation, because all my sin has been paid for,

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and his perfection and his obedience has been imputed to

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my account. So I now stand before God in Christ, perfect, holy, righteous,

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and I have in Christ. I obey every single command

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not to be filled with worry, not to be filled

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with fear, and not to be filled with anxiety. In practice,

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I still have fear, worry, in anxiety. I'm not excusing

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that we still have it, but we still have it.

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That means when God says, do not fear, and we

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do fear, we confess our failure and rest in the

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obedience of Christ, who did not fear. When we are

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riddled with anxiety, we run not to self effort, but

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to the cross where peace was purchased. When we feel

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ashamed of our panic, our trembling, our insomnia. Insomnia are,

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if I can say the word right, insomnia, Okay, our

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ability not to sleep because we're filled with worry, fear,

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and anxiety. We remember that we're clothe in Christ's fearless trust.

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So when we see the commands, Man, why can't I sleep?

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Because I'm filled with war, worry, and I'm doubt, and

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i have anxiety, and I have no peace here, and

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I'm bothered here, and I'm bothered here. I run to

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Christ because He took care of all of it for me.

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It's not try harder, do better. I run to the

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one who did it for me perfectly. Law says, do

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not fear. Reality says I do that way more than

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I want to admit. The Gospel says Christ's feared not,

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and in him, I'm counted as fearless. Only this approach

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keeps us from perpetual guilt because we never fully obey

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these commands. Only this approach keeps us from pretending we're

455
00:29:46.119 --> 00:29:48.759
fearless to prove we're good Christians. I don't have to

456
00:29:48.799 --> 00:29:53.279
pretend anything. I can acknowledge fear, worry, and anxiety because

457
00:29:53.319 --> 00:29:58.880
I know in Christ, I'm fearless. Positionally, this keeps us

458
00:29:58.880 --> 00:30:02.480
from weaponizing these versus to shame other people. Oh you've

459
00:30:02.480 --> 00:30:04.400
got this worry, you've got this problem, you've got this,

460
00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:08.079
Just stop it, stop doing it. Come on, here's the

461
00:30:08.119 --> 00:30:10.559
scriptures that tells you to fear not. I don't turn

462
00:30:10.599 --> 00:30:13.319
it into a weapon like that. I'm like, oh, well,

463
00:30:13.400 --> 00:30:16.240
let me give you some comfort. I'm not going to

464
00:30:16.279 --> 00:30:18.400
tell you to try harder. I'm going to show you

465
00:30:18.440 --> 00:30:23.920
that Christ has done it for you. You're fearful. He wasn't.

466
00:30:24.279 --> 00:30:28.920
You worry he didn't. You're filled with anxiety he wasn't.

467
00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:40.680
And that is now all accredited to you. Now, what

468
00:30:40.880 --> 00:30:44.160
happens when we ignore the law and Gospel in the

469
00:30:44.200 --> 00:30:48.519
Bible's commands against fear? What happens if we just we

470
00:30:48.559 --> 00:30:51.559
ignore this law gospel approach, or you're going to turn

471
00:30:51.559 --> 00:30:55.559
the good news into a crushing, a crushing burden. When

472
00:30:55.599 --> 00:30:58.160
you read do not fear, be anxious for nothing, and

473
00:30:58.200 --> 00:31:02.480
fear not as command you're expected to fulfill and you fail,

474
00:31:02.759 --> 00:31:05.079
you and you will, you will end up in a

475
00:31:05.119 --> 00:31:09.319
cycle of guilt, shame, and defeat. See when you when

476
00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:11.960
you don't, when you obey it, when you I should say,

477
00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:17.680
when you disregard, when you ignore the law gospel distinction. Right,

478
00:31:17.759 --> 00:31:21.440
when you when you ignore the law Gospel and these commands,

479
00:31:21.640 --> 00:31:24.160
you're going to turn good news into crushing burden. When

480
00:31:24.200 --> 00:31:27.279
you read do not fear, You're be anxious for nothing

481
00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:30.359
and fear not as a command. When you read them

482
00:31:30.359 --> 00:31:33.839
as a command that you are expected to fulfill, and

483
00:31:33.880 --> 00:31:36.400
you fail and you will, you're going to end up

484
00:31:36.400 --> 00:31:38.519
in a cycle of guilt, shame, and defeat. When you

485
00:31:38.559 --> 00:31:40.559
go and you're like, oh, this is a command. I

486
00:31:40.720 --> 00:31:42.839
have to do it. I have to fulfill it. I've

487
00:31:42.839 --> 00:31:45.799
got to try harder. If that's how you approach these commands,

488
00:31:45.880 --> 00:31:48.799
I'm sorry. You're just going to be beaten down, beaten down,

489
00:31:48.960 --> 00:31:52.880
or you're gonna have to just start pretending. See, the

490
00:31:53.000 --> 00:31:57.160
law says you must not fear, You must trust fully,

491
00:31:57.319 --> 00:32:01.400
You must cast your anxiety away. You do fear, You

492
00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:04.920
do worry. You do lie awake at night filled with

493
00:32:05.279 --> 00:32:09.200
thoughts about this and this and this. You do panic sometimes.

494
00:32:10.759 --> 00:32:14.240
And if there's no gospel behind these commands, then each

495
00:32:14.240 --> 00:32:17.279
command becomes a hammer. Why don't I have peace? What's

496
00:32:17.319 --> 00:32:20.119
wrong with me? I must not be a real Christian.

497
00:32:20.359 --> 00:32:23.559
God must be disappointed in me instead of leading us

498
00:32:23.599 --> 00:32:26.319
to Christ. The law will crush you when it's not

499
00:32:26.519 --> 00:32:31.200
followed by the gospel. That's what will happen. You'll be crushed,

500
00:32:31.359 --> 00:32:34.359
You'll be You'll just it's not gonna make anything better

501
00:32:34.400 --> 00:32:37.720
other than you trying harder, harder. Heart. No, you have

502
00:32:37.839 --> 00:32:41.200
to see the law as revealing what you are and

503
00:32:41.240 --> 00:32:46.799
then driving you to Christ. So it will turn good news.

504
00:32:47.359 --> 00:32:49.359
Because when you see the law, you should also see

505
00:32:49.400 --> 00:32:52.000
the good news. I didn't, but Christ did. But it

506
00:32:52.039 --> 00:32:55.519
turns the good news into a crushing burden. You're gonna

507
00:32:55.559 --> 00:33:00.759
pretend or perform instead of confess, and rest and worry

508
00:33:00.759 --> 00:33:04.240
are seen as moral or spiritual failures without a gospel resolution.

509
00:33:04.640 --> 00:33:08.480
Christians will hide their fear because it's shameful, fake peace

510
00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:13.640
because it's expected, perform trust without actually experiencing it. And

511
00:33:13.640 --> 00:33:16.359
that's what Christians do. You hide their fear because you

512
00:33:16.359 --> 00:33:18.720
don't want to be shame. You don't want to feel shame.

513
00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:21.880
You're gonna fake peace because that's what's expected, and you're

514
00:33:21.920 --> 00:33:25.279
going to perform as if you're trusting you are. You're

515
00:33:25.359 --> 00:33:28.799
now just going to be a character and a movie.

516
00:33:28.480 --> 00:33:32.319
My name is trusting good in God, even though you

517
00:33:32.400 --> 00:33:35.559
may not actually be experiencing it. You end up with

518
00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:39.200
a church full of people saying God is in control.

519
00:33:40.119 --> 00:33:46.960
Well inside they're trembling, worry, fearful, and shameful. The culture

520
00:33:47.000 --> 00:33:51.079
becomes one of pretense, not honesty, and honesty is where

521
00:33:51.079 --> 00:33:53.799
real healing begins. Because it's gonna become a culture of

522
00:33:53.839 --> 00:33:57.759
everyone pretending. It's just dress up. It's pretend our and

523
00:33:57.799 --> 00:33:59.599
I say it all the time. The church is where

524
00:33:59.599 --> 00:34:04.759
everyone just plays pretend. It's just drama club, everyone's pretending

525
00:34:04.799 --> 00:34:09.880
to be something they're not. A third thing that will

526
00:34:09.880 --> 00:34:11.199
happen if we don't look at this from a long

527
00:34:11.199 --> 00:34:14.760
Gospel perspective, is you weaponize scripture against those who are

528
00:34:14.800 --> 00:34:18.920
actually hurting and struggling. When fear is only ever talked

529
00:34:18.920 --> 00:34:21.880
about as sin or weakness, and when we forget Christ's

530
00:34:21.880 --> 00:34:24.760
obedience in our place, we begin to shame others who

531
00:34:24.760 --> 00:34:27.599
are suffering. You just need more faith. Are you reading

532
00:34:27.599 --> 00:34:30.159
your Bible enough? Have you prayed about it? You know

533
00:34:30.280 --> 00:34:34.400
God said not to worry. Right. Instead of compassion, we

534
00:34:34.480 --> 00:34:37.679
offer commands. Instead of walking with the hurting, we scold

535
00:34:37.719 --> 00:34:42.480
them for being human. Ironically, this kind of theology increases anxiety,

536
00:34:42.719 --> 00:34:47.960
especially for people dealing with trauma, depression or clinical panic disorders. Ultimately,

537
00:34:48.000 --> 00:34:52.599
you just create more pain, more suffering, more panic, more worry,

538
00:34:52.800 --> 00:34:56.000
more fear, more shame, more guilt. You actually hurt the

539
00:34:56.119 --> 00:34:58.840
very people you think you're helping because you're doing it

540
00:34:58.920 --> 00:35:03.880
from a completely misguided theological position that hey, you can

541
00:35:03.960 --> 00:35:07.639
keep the law, you can do it. So everything's about

542
00:35:07.639 --> 00:35:09.599
do more, do more, try harder, Come on, you can

543
00:35:09.639 --> 00:35:14.000
do it, do it. It gets It's just so tiresome.

544
00:35:14.360 --> 00:35:20.960
And that's all you ever hear in sermons. A fourth thing,

545
00:35:21.000 --> 00:35:23.199
if we don't have a law gospel distinction, you turn

546
00:35:23.199 --> 00:35:26.280
the Bible into a strategy manual, not a story of redemption.

547
00:35:26.880 --> 00:35:28.760
If you treat a verse like Philippia's four to six

548
00:35:28.800 --> 00:35:31.000
be anxious for nothing or Matthew six, do not worry

549
00:35:31.039 --> 00:35:33.800
about your life as a technique instead of commands that

550
00:35:33.880 --> 00:35:36.079
drive us to Christ, you start looking to the Bible

551
00:35:36.119 --> 00:35:39.519
like a spiritual self help book. Here's how to overcome fear.

552
00:35:39.880 --> 00:35:44.800
Read more, pray more, quote versus, visualize peace. But then

553
00:35:44.840 --> 00:35:48.920
when those strategies don't work, people are left thinking God's words.

554
00:35:49.280 --> 00:35:52.320
God's word must not be that powerful. I must be

555
00:35:52.400 --> 00:35:58.519
doing it wrong. Maybe I'm beyond help. The Gospel is

556
00:35:58.519 --> 00:36:03.800
then replaced by formula, and when the formulas fail, faith

557
00:36:03.880 --> 00:36:09.320
gets shipwrecked. Another thing that happens is we lose sight

558
00:36:09.400 --> 00:36:12.239
of Christ. Most importantly, if we don't interpret the commands

559
00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:15.360
to fear not through the lens of law and gospel,

560
00:36:15.400 --> 00:36:19.039
you end up making our peace depend on our performance.

561
00:36:19.679 --> 00:36:23.960
You make the Christian life about behavior modification, not redemption.

562
00:36:24.440 --> 00:36:27.480
You make yourself the center of the story and not Christ.

563
00:36:27.639 --> 00:36:30.679
It becomes about you. You you, you, you, you, you you,

564
00:36:30.840 --> 00:36:34.280
And that's how sermons are constantly preached, ever passages about you,

565
00:36:34.679 --> 00:36:37.440
do more, do more, read more, go here, do this,

566
00:36:37.599 --> 00:36:40.280
try this. Here's four steps, here's five steps. Come on,

567
00:36:40.440 --> 00:36:42.679
come on, come on, come on, And it's all about

568
00:36:42.679 --> 00:36:44.880
you and Christ. He's just there to kind of He

569
00:36:45.000 --> 00:36:47.519
died so that we can be better. He didn't die

570
00:36:47.679 --> 00:36:50.199
because we will never be better. Christ is just there

571
00:36:50.239 --> 00:36:52.000
so that he can kind of give us a little

572
00:36:52.039 --> 00:36:54.760
help so that we can be done to the super people,

573
00:36:54.920 --> 00:36:56.920
the best wife, the best husband, the best this, the

574
00:36:56.960 --> 00:37:00.199
best that, the best this. And it doesn't work that way,

575
00:37:00.559 --> 00:37:10.760
and it destroys the actual gospel. Instead of being driven

576
00:37:10.800 --> 00:37:13.880
to rest in this perfect trust, we're driven to try

577
00:37:13.920 --> 00:37:17.800
harder to conjure up our own. And when that fails,

578
00:37:18.119 --> 00:37:20.840
and it will, we don't look to him. We tend

579
00:37:20.840 --> 00:37:26.440
to look inward. That's spiritual exhaustion. That's law without gospel.

580
00:37:26.639 --> 00:37:34.840
That's ultimate death. The right way is law than gospel.

581
00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:39.440
The law says you must not fear, you must trust

582
00:37:39.519 --> 00:37:47.440
god fully, you must be anxious for nothing. That's true.

583
00:37:47.920 --> 00:37:50.840
We don't water it down, we don't minimize it, we

584
00:37:50.920 --> 00:37:55.800
don't explain it away. And we acknowledge that we will

585
00:37:55.840 --> 00:38:00.599
never truly obey it. But then the Gospel shows up

586
00:38:01.639 --> 00:38:04.280
because now you feel guilty. Now you feel like a failure.

587
00:38:04.480 --> 00:38:07.360
Now you realize you're never going to obey it. And

588
00:38:07.400 --> 00:38:11.519
then the Gospel comes and says, hey, hey, hey, Christ

589
00:38:11.559 --> 00:38:20.559
did Christ feared not even unto death. Christ obeyed perfectly

590
00:38:21.280 --> 00:38:27.320
in your place. You are clothed in his obedience. There

591
00:38:27.360 --> 00:38:30.719
is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus.

592
00:38:31.199 --> 00:38:34.440
Now you are free to bring your fear to Him,

593
00:38:34.679 --> 00:38:38.159
to acknowledge it, and to say, Lord, I fear. You

594
00:38:38.320 --> 00:38:42.559
don't fear. Your obedience to these commands are mine by

595
00:38:42.679 --> 00:38:47.480
faith alone. I stand not in my ability not to fear.

596
00:38:47.719 --> 00:38:50.559
I stand in the fact that you did not fear,

597
00:38:50.760 --> 00:38:54.400
and so positionally I'm obeying all of these commands. But Lord,

598
00:38:54.519 --> 00:38:58.400
practically I'm filled with worry, anxiety, and doubt. And you

599
00:38:58.440 --> 00:39:00.400
can bring it to Him. You don't have to tend,

600
00:39:00.559 --> 00:39:10.000
you don't have to perform only the law. Gospel interpretation

601
00:39:10.119 --> 00:39:13.199
honors the biblical texts as if these are real commands.

602
00:39:13.239 --> 00:39:17.239
They acknowledge human reality. We're broken and weak. It exalts Christ,

603
00:39:17.280 --> 00:39:19.960
he fulfilled the law, and it provides rest for the soul.

604
00:39:20.239 --> 00:39:24.239
You're not condemned for being afraid because Christ obeyed it

605
00:39:24.320 --> 00:39:26.760
for you, and there is now no condemnation for those

606
00:39:26.800 --> 00:39:33.679
who are in Christ Jesus. So you should rest in

607
00:39:33.719 --> 00:39:37.000
the one who slept in the storm. Jesus is not

608
00:39:37.119 --> 00:39:40.039
giving you the way and how that you can sleep

609
00:39:40.079 --> 00:39:43.679
in the storm. He's showing you he slept in the storm,

610
00:39:44.000 --> 00:39:46.920
because we are constantly going to be fearful and we're not.

611
00:39:47.280 --> 00:39:49.760
So when Jesus slept in the storm, he wasn't just

612
00:39:49.880 --> 00:39:54.559
modeling peace. He was fulfilling what you cannot do. You

613
00:39:54.639 --> 00:39:57.320
may fear the storm, you may shake the boat, you

614
00:39:57.400 --> 00:40:00.800
may be shaking in the boat, but in him, your

615
00:40:00.840 --> 00:40:07.199
record says you slept peacefully and perfect trust because he did,

616
00:40:08.639 --> 00:40:22.119
and you are in him. You are in him. That's

617
00:40:22.159 --> 00:40:27.360
the way you have to approach this. Now, what I

618
00:40:27.400 --> 00:40:29.760
want you to do. I was going to go ahead

619
00:40:29.760 --> 00:40:32.199
and do this now, but I'm at forty minutes and

620
00:40:32.239 --> 00:40:34.199
I'm not super happy with the way I've done this,

621
00:40:34.320 --> 00:40:36.599
so I'm you know, who knows if I'm even going

622
00:40:36.679 --> 00:40:38.000
to keep this, So I'm not going to add more

623
00:40:38.000 --> 00:40:40.840
to it, but I want you to start doing this

624
00:40:41.360 --> 00:40:44.599
for the next I don't care for the It's April

625
00:40:44.760 --> 00:40:47.239
the ninth, for the rest of April, for the rest

626
00:40:47.280 --> 00:40:52.000
of April. Anytime you're reading your Bible, anytime you listen

627
00:40:52.079 --> 00:40:56.840
to a sermon, I want you to write down the

628
00:40:56.880 --> 00:41:00.039
commands you see. Here's a command, here's a command. The

629
00:41:00.079 --> 00:41:03.280
sermon's giving you commands. If this sermon preaches a scripture,

630
00:41:03.320 --> 00:41:05.480
that's command. If the sermon, if the pastor's just giving

631
00:41:05.480 --> 00:41:08.559
you commands, do this, read this, do this, don't do this,

632
00:41:08.679 --> 00:41:10.679
do this. If he's telling you to do something or

633
00:41:10.760 --> 00:41:13.960
not to do something. Anytime you see a command. Anytime

634
00:41:14.000 --> 00:41:16.199
you see a command, I want you to write down

635
00:41:16.280 --> 00:41:19.159
the command, and then I want you to think about

636
00:41:19.159 --> 00:41:25.039
how Christ fulfilled that command. Anytime you hear a command,

637
00:41:25.159 --> 00:41:27.039
I don't want you to write down how you can

638
00:41:27.079 --> 00:41:29.320
do better, how you can try harder. I don't want

639
00:41:29.360 --> 00:41:31.480
you to write down the forty seven steps the pastor

640
00:41:31.519 --> 00:41:33.519
gave you to do so that you can do it,

641
00:41:33.719 --> 00:41:36.440
that they have a conference, that there's a support group,

642
00:41:36.639 --> 00:41:38.840
that you can do this, you can buy this book.

643
00:41:39.000 --> 00:41:41.119
You can do this. You can jump up and down,

644
00:41:41.280 --> 00:41:43.239
you can slam your head in the wall five times,

645
00:41:43.360 --> 00:41:46.039
or you'll be a better all the nonsense the Church

646
00:41:46.119 --> 00:41:50.320
gives you, just stop listening to them. Stop say Okay,

647
00:41:50.480 --> 00:41:54.360
there's the command. Christ fulfilled the command. Go look for

648
00:41:54.440 --> 00:41:59.280
how Christ fulfilled the command. Write down the command, look

649
00:41:59.360 --> 00:42:02.880
for how Christ fulfill the command. The end, who cares

650
00:42:02.920 --> 00:42:05.159
what the Church is saying? Who cares they keep telling

651
00:42:05.199 --> 00:42:09.760
you to do something. Don't listen to them. It's man made, legalistic,

652
00:42:10.440 --> 00:42:14.719
just nonsense that's going to just beat you into either

653
00:42:15.719 --> 00:42:17.920
beat you into a position that you have to pretend,

654
00:42:17.960 --> 00:42:24.440
pretend pretend, or beat you into a total pit of despair, despondency, anxiety, fear, worry,

655
00:42:24.559 --> 00:42:26.480
and you don't understand how you ended up in this

656
00:42:26.960 --> 00:42:34.320
living hell that Christianity put you in. Out for the

657
00:42:34.360 --> 00:42:37.000
next rest of this month. Any anything you hear it,

658
00:42:37.039 --> 00:42:39.280
that's a command. Write it down. Here's the command. Don't

659
00:42:39.320 --> 00:42:42.519
minimize the command, don't water down the command. It is

660
00:42:42.639 --> 00:42:45.400
a command. And then you go look and see how

661
00:42:45.480 --> 00:42:47.760
Christ fulfilled that command. And then you know what you

662
00:42:47.800 --> 00:42:52.639
tell yourself, I couldn't, I can't, I will never do it.

663
00:42:53.239 --> 00:43:03.440
Christ did it for me, and rest in that the end.

664
00:43:04.760 --> 00:43:08.159
Fear Yes, the Bible tells you do not be afraid,

665
00:43:09.119 --> 00:43:12.400
Do not worry, do not have anxiety. It tells you

666
00:43:12.440 --> 00:43:15.119
that do not water that down. That's a command. You

667
00:43:15.119 --> 00:43:17.679
know what you do when you see that command. Man,

668
00:43:17.920 --> 00:43:21.679
I have worry, have fear, have anxiety. Woe is me.

669
00:43:22.280 --> 00:43:25.920
I'm undone. I'm an unclean man. I am an unman

670
00:43:25.960 --> 00:43:28.760
of unclean lips. I'm a man filled with fear, worry,

671
00:43:28.800 --> 00:43:33.280
and doubt. But there is the one. His name is Christ,

672
00:43:33.960 --> 00:43:38.280
who came into this world, was confronted with everything that

673
00:43:38.400 --> 00:43:43.239
causes fear. But he showed no fear, no worry, anxiety.

674
00:43:43.440 --> 00:43:46.480
He showed perfect trust in the Father. He was at

675
00:43:46.519 --> 00:43:49.599
peace when everyone else was shaking. He was at peace

676
00:43:49.679 --> 00:43:53.519
in the storm. And it's in him that positionally, I'm

677
00:43:53.559 --> 00:43:58.079
at peace in him because his perfect obedience and peace

678
00:43:58.360 --> 00:44:03.800
and righteousness is in peace to me. I stand in him, perfect,

679
00:44:04.119 --> 00:44:13.920
complete and whole. All right, we'll talk more about a

680
00:44:14.079 --> 00:44:17.480
kind of low gospel Bible study method. Maybe we'll do

681
00:44:17.519 --> 00:44:19.840
an entire episode on that, but for now I'll stop

682
00:44:19.920 --> 00:44:26.840
right there. Thank you Solva so much for listening. Remember,

683
00:44:26.960 --> 00:44:29.800
write down the commands, Write down how Christ fulfilled the commands.

684
00:44:30.159 --> 00:44:30.719
God bless