The Fear of the Lord Overcomes All Fears

Silicon Valley Reformed Baptist Church

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Well, good morning, beloved church. If you have a

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Bible, please turn to Luke chapter 12. We're going to be reading from verses 1 to 12 this morning, and when you have that, please do stand for the reading of God's Word.

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Again, the chapter and verse is Luke chapter 12, starting in verse 1, hear ye this morning the word of the

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Lord. In the meantime, when so many thousands of people had gathered together, they were trampling one another.

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He began to say to his disciples first, beware of the leaven of the

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Pharisees, which is hypocrisy. Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known.

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Therefore, whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light. What you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed in the housetops.

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I tell you, my friends, do not fear the one who can kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do.

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But I will warn you whom to fear. Fear him who after he has killed has authority to cast into hell.

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Yes, I tell you, fear him. Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?

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And not one of them is forgotten before God? Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered.

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Fear not. You are of more value than many sparrows. And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the

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Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. But the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

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And everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven. But the one who blasphemes against the

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Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. And when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the

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Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. This is the word of the

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Lord. You may be seated. Join me in prayer.

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Father, we do approach you, the one who has all authority, the one in whom we have life and breath and being and movement.

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All things originate from you, Father. And we acknowledge your sovereignty, your goodness, your grace.

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And Lord, we do come before you this morning asking that you would grant us your spirit so that we may receive this word, this word of the fear of the

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Lord, which overcomes all fears. Lord, God, help us in that endeavor to see how it is that your fear leads us to a life of being fearless.

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We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Church, there are times in which, as a preacher,

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I come before you really excited to preach a word and other times not so excited.

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I must admit, this is one of those times in which I am not so excited to preach to you this word.

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You might ask yourself, why is that, Pastor? The reason is, is these words that we just read are quite terrifying.

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I don't know if you've grasped just how terrifying these verses of Scripture are.

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I want to remind you why this is such a fearsome text of Scripture.

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And I would say that the verses that we read are among the scariest texts of all of Scripture.

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First, where do we find ourselves in this gospel narrative in Luke? Again, Jesus has done many great signs and wonders.

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He has cast out demons. He has healed the sick. He has opened the eyes of the blind.

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Jesus is in the prime of his ministry, so much so that we see in verse 1 of chapter 12, in the meantime, when so many thousands of the people had gathered together, they're trampling one another.

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He began to say to the disciples, so the scene is this. Thousands are coming to Jesus to hear him, to see him, to examine him, to see the things that they have heard and the things that they have seen, if these things are true.

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People are excited about what Jesus is doing and accomplishing. But Jesus doesn't respond to these crowds with great enthusiasm.

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In fact, he kind of pours cold water on this marvelous sight of thousands of people coming to hear of him.

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He doesn't say, boy, what a great harvest. Look at how we're being so successful in our ministry.

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Look at all the thousands of people that we're drawing to the Father. Doesn't say any such thing.

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But what he does, as he sees thousands of people gathering to hear him, he turns to his disciples and he gives them a warning, terrifying warning.

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He says, beware of the leaven of the

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Pharisees, which is hypocrisy.

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You see, in the previous chapter, we saw how Jesus was contending with some of these Pharisees and how these

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Pharisees neglected the love of God and the love of mercy and the pursuit of justice.

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They were so fixated on the outward appearance that they forgot that inwardly, though outwardly they were washed, inwardly they were filthy.

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They could not fathom that their lives were not holy and set apart because they thought they had it all figured out.

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But Jesus exposed the thoughts and intentions of their heart. As Jesus is that word which cuts sharper than a two -edged sword.

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And so he warns his disciples as he sees these great crowds gathering, he says, beware of the leaven of the

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Pharisees. Brothers and sisters, I didn't get to get you guys an insert this morning, so I apologize for that.

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But what is the leaven of the Pharisees according to this Scripture? It is hypocrisy.

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That is the leaven of the Pharisees. And in verses two and three,

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Jesus says this, nothing is covered up that will not be revealed or hidden that will not be known.

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That text is terrifying. Isn't it?

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Brothers and sisters, don't we all have things in our hearts, things in our lives that are hidden?

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Maybe when we were kids, maybe when we were adults or somewhere in between, we said something, we've done something and maybe we've never shared it.

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Maybe it's a hidden thing of the heart. And isn't it terrifying to know that every word spoken, every deed done will one day be made known and bare before Him who sees all things as they truly are?

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Truly terrifying. You see, what Jesus is pointing out here as He makes this huge distinction between the

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Pharisees and the God who sees all things is that He's calling His disciples, because He's not turning to the crowds,

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He's turning to His disciples. He's saying, beware of the leaven of the Pharisees, which is hypocrisy, and strive to be authentic in the life that you lead.

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Why? Because there's a God who sees all things. You see, the

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Pharisees, they thought that they could hack the system of religion. They thought that they could hack the system of God's law by being outwardly clean, not recognizing the truth that the

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God of heaven sees beyond the superficial. Or as the Old Testament says about the

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Lord God, that He sees not just the mere appearance, but He sees inwardly even to the heart.

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This is the God of heaven who sees all things as they truly are. He sees them more clearly than you and I.

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And so we, as Jesus points out to His disciples, ought to strive toward authentic holiness, because truly nothing is hidden from God's sight.

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Now to avoid the superficial religion of the Pharisees and their leaven, we must acknowledge some things. We must acknowledge this important truth.

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Nothing is hidden from God's sight. He sees all things as they truly are.

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You see, we can hide things in this life. Maybe we can even take them to our graves. But the

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Lord knows all things, and everything we have done shall receive an account before God.

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I don't have any living grandparents anymore, but my grandfather died in 2011,

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I believe. My grandfather died at the age of 89, I believe.

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He lived an interesting life. He was a carpenter, and he had been married, divorced, remarried my grandmother, and with her had,

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I think, about nine kids. Okay, kind of what Pastor Conley has already, so he's probably a year shy from being in my granddad's record.

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And yet, he lived a very interesting life. He was Catholic, then he became Baptist, then he became

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Seventh -day Adventist, and then he became Baptist again. Wild guy, interesting guy. One thing that was interesting as well is when he died, he had struggled with Alzheimer's for about 10, 11 years, and perished as a result of it.

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At his funeral, I wasn't there, but my mother was there, and there she starts seeing relatives and familiar faces, and then she starts seeing people who weren't so familiar.

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And she starts asking questions, well, how did you know my dad? Well, he was my dad too, really.

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And so one thing that was learned is that my granddad not only had a first marriage, not only did he have a second marriage, but he also had some other extracurricular activities and families out there, which is a common thing in Puerto Rico and in that time and that era.

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And the things that he took to the grave eventually did come to light.

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And now I've got relatives on Facebook that I've never met or even knew existed before, but are part of the family tree.

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You see, nothing is ever truly hidden forever. And especially before the

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God of heaven who sees all things as they truly are. Nothing can be hidden from his sight because he is sovereign.

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He sees all things. He's not like a man where he is limited by human sight and human ability.

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Rather, this God of heaven is in all places at all times.

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He's truly omniscient, omnipotent. He is sovereign in every way imaginable.

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Therefore, we ought to strive toward authentic faith.

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And it isn't to say that we are to be expected to be totally, fully, wholly imperfect on this side of eternity, because if we think ourselves to be such, then we are actually likely partaking in the leaven of the

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Pharisees who thought they had it all together. Instead, an authentic faith is one that acknowledges and contends with the imperfections of the

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Christian walk and the Christian life. That when we struggle, we don't necessarily go and hide it.

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When we sin, we don't try to just cover it up under the veil of self -righteousness, but that we admit and confess our sins and we beg the

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Spirit to sanctify us through the blood of Jesus. And we ought to strive toward this holiness by acknowledging when we fall short of God's perfect standard, not only in a posture of humility, but a heart of humility.

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Because it's only with a heart and posture of humility that the Holy Spirit will help us in our weakness and help us to become more like Jesus.

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And that's what Jesus is trying to do here in this text of Scripture. He tells His disciples, beware of the leaven of the

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Pharisees, of hypocrisy, but instead know that there's a God who sees all things.

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As a result of that, live authentically. Live authentically with this

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God who sees all things as they truly are and strive for holiness. You see, because the

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Pharisees were only outwardly holy, outwardly they were set apart. And they were set apart in such a way that they wouldn't mix or mingle with people who were heretics or people who were considered outsiders.

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They cleaned their hands well, they did all these things that promoted outward holiness, but inwardly they were dead men bones.

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And so, we should strive to be authentically holy. And what do we mean by that word?

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Earlier today, earlier this morning, we sang a song, holy, holy, holy is the

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Lord Almighty. The God of heaven is holy. He's thrice holy.

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He is three times holy, likely as a homage to the persons of the

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Godhead of the Father, Son, and Spirit, but also three as a matter of completeness and holiness.

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God is totally holy. That means He is set apart. He is totally set apart, which is why in the

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Garden of Eden when man fell into sin, what did God do? He separated from humanity.

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He separated humanity from that which was holy, namely the Garden of Eden. He puts them on the outside of the garden.

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He then separates Himself and He then has to clothe Adam and Eve to hide their nakedness and their shame.

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God is holy. God calls us to be holy. That means we are to be set apart, not just outwardly, but inwardly set apart.

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That can only be done through true and saving faith in Jesus Christ, for Jesus alone can make us holy.

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It's not by our efforts. It's not by our perfect observance of the law as the Pharisees tried purchasing for themselves a righteousness, but that righteousness was not through faith.

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But there is to us today a righteousness that is through faith in Jesus Christ where we can stand not on our own merits, not on our own works, not on our own self -righteousness, but rather in the righteousness, holiness, and perfection of Jesus.

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And it's in that way we can have full confidence on that day when we stand before Him who sees all things as they truly are.

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In verse 3 it says, therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light. What you have heard whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.

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Again, highlighting just how drastic it is that God sees all things.

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And there are times in which in our lives we think to ourselves or at least practically we live as if no one sees what we do.

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But rest assured, God sees, God knows, nothing is hidden.

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And so live a life of light, not darkness. Live as if someone who lives in the light of day, not in the darkness of obscurity.

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This terrifying text of Scripture and narrative continues in the following verses in verse 4.

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Jesus says, I tell you my friends, I love how He prefaced it by saying friends because what

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He's about to say is difficult to hear. Do not fear those who kill the body and after that have nothing more that they can do.

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Well let's be honest, let's be frank for a moment. Death is scary. I'm worried at times why

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I lock the doors at night and I lock my car door when I'm driving, especially in sketchy parts of town because I don't want someone to harm me.

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But what God is saying is that there's a greater fear that you need to listen to.

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There's a greater fear than that which can happen to you in this life.

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He says, so don't fear those that kill the body and after that have nothing more they can do, but I warn you whom you are to fear.

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There is one greater than the criminals of this world, than men, there is one who is greater than all these and we should not fear man who can kill the body.

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Time and time again, both in the Old Testament and the New Testament, we see this phraseology used time and time again, do not fear, do not fear.

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Even says do not fear men. It says, for what can man do to me?

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Well, from a worldly perspective, man, fellow human beings can do quite a bit. They can harm you.

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They can pillage you. They can take your wealth, your earnings, your family, your safety, your security.

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There's a lot that's at stake with earthly troubles, but there's one that supersedes all those earthly troubles.

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So we are not to fear man who can kill the body. What an interesting theology that this brings up, brothers and sisters.

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Christians are called and taught not to be afraid of death.

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So then why do we fear it so much? Why do we fear it? Why do we look at death almost as if how the pagans view it, as the end of existence, when in fact, it's not the end of existence?

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Life, as the Scripture says, is short. It's like the blade of grass or flower of the field that quickly sprouts up and then weathers away.

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But there is a soul, there is a spiritual component to man that continues after physical life.

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This is what Jesus is pointing out, this reality of the human condition and of what comes next after physical death.

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Because what is death but separation? When you hearken back to the Old Testament in Genesis chapter 2 and 3,

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God says to Adam and Eve, on the day in which you eat of this tree, you shall surely, what, die.

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Well, was God true to His word on the day that they ate of the bread?

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Certainly. They died the first death, that being a spiritual death.

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They died that day, and what was reserved for them as a result of spiritual death was what

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Paul, later on in Romans chapter 6 verse 23 says, that the wage of the sin is death.

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Not just a spiritual separation, but now even a physical separation. And so, that death is something that we are accumulating, we are working towards that as a result of our sinful nature, but yet there is good news because the gift that God gives is eternal life through Jesus Christ.

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And so, there is life after death. He says this in verse 5, but I will warn you whom to fear.

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Fear Him who after He has killed has authority to cast into hell.

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Yes, I tell you, fear Him. Fear Him. Friends, an authentic faith and holiness is one that understands and has received the fear of the

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Lord. Proverbs speaks much of this fear. It is a good fear to have, for the fear of the

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Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

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We are to fear the Lord. Now, what has happened in the modern church is that many have walked back on the fear of the

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Lord in exchange to talk about God's love. Certainly a quality we would all rather focus on.

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Certainly a quality that we would all rather hear about, God's love. But God's love and the fear of God are not mutually exclusive things.

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In fact, I would say that these are actually two sides of the same coin. You see, I fear the Lord in a similar way that I fear a good father, or in a similar way in which

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I fear the Son. Any closer to the Son, we would all perish.

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Any further away, we would perish. The Son is magnificent. It's glorious.

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It gives light to us, but you cannot even manage to face it and look at it with your own eyes for more than just a few seconds without going blind.

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The Son is truly fearsome and awesome, and again, any closer to the

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Son, we would all perish, and any closer, we would perish. How much more, then, should we fear the

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God who created the sun, the moon, and the stars because He is so much more deserving of our fear and respect?

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God is indeed fearsome. He is awesome in that true sense of the word, that awesome in that colloquial term of a kid saying, that's awesome, but I'm saying

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He's awe -inspiring, and awe, in that sense, means almost awe -full.

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It's terrifying. He's a fearsome person and being, and because of who

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He is intrinsically, because of who He is ontologically as the fountain of all things, as the creator and sustainer of the heavens and the earth,

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He is deserving of your fear, and so fear

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Him who has authority both to kill the body and the soul, who has authority to cast the human soul even into hell.

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The Greek word that's used here is gehenna, so my belief is that this is speaking of the lake of fire, the eternal hell, the place in which sinners shall go to at the end of the age.

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This is that eternal state of conscious torment.

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One of the things that is not often talked about, again, even in today's modern context, is the doctrine of hell. Hell is just viewed as one of those things that we just try to stay away from because it's not a comfortable doctrine.

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It's not a doctrine that inspires us to maybe speak about or tell others about, but the reality is that hell is very real, and don't you forget it.

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Don't you forget it. Hell is real, just as real as heaven is. This is why we are called to fear

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Him who has authority. You see, the only one who has authority to cast into hell is

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God. God is the judge of the living and the dead, and He shall give to each what is due to Him for what has been done in the body, whether good or evil.

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And so, again, we are to fear this awesome God. One of the biggest reasons that the nation of Israel kept falling into apostasy and sin is because they did not fear the

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Lord. I want to read to you another terrifying scripture from Jeremiah chapter 2, and let this be a warning to all of us in Jeremiah chapter 2, verse 19.

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The Lord God says this to His people of Israel, your evil will chastise you, and your apostasy will reprove you.

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Know and see that it is evil and bitter for you to forsake the Lord your

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God, and notice what He says here, the fear of me is not in you, declares the

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Lord God of hosts. When we do not fear

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God properly, sin is crouching at the door. When we don't have a healthy view of who

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God is in His grandeur, in His beauty, in His majesty, in His holiness, that He is indeed fearsome, then we will fall into the same trap of Israel, where we will fall time and time again into apostasy, wickedness, depravity, and it is indeed an evil thing to forsake the

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Lord our God. And beware that the fear of Him be not in you, indeed, let the fear of the

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Lord be in you, and let the fear of the Lord be the beginning of wisdom and knowledge.

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Our Christian faith and our fear of the Lord helps us and frees us from the fear of man.

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Again, contrast what Jesus says, don't fear Him who can kill the body, but fear

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Him who can kill both body and soul in hell. So then, we learn this from this text of Scripture, that our faith and our fear of the

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Lord is what helps us to overcome the fear of man, for what is the worst that man can do to us?

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If they take away our life, what do we gain? Everything.

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If they steal from us our life, what do we gain? The presence of our

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Master, the presence of our Savior. The Christian should not fear death.

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The Christian should fear God. We are to fear the

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Lord alone. Our fear should not be in men, but in God who will judge the living and the dead.

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You see, our lives, they have value. Therefore, don't waste your life fearing man, but live a life that fears the

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Lord, because the fear of the Lord overcomes all fears.

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Now, that sounds like maybe something that is paradoxical.

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We fear God and that somehow rids us of all other fears? Yes. Yes. Because when you have a proper view of God and a proper view of self, all these other fears begin to melt away.

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It doesn't mean that you won't have things that will be difficult, it doesn't mean that you won't have the temptation to fear, but rather, when your eyes are fixed on Jesus, that perfect love, that perfect fear, cast out all other fears.

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Therefore, we have hope in Jesus. Jesus then turns his attention in verse 6 and 7 by saying this, are not five sparrows sold for two pennies?

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And not one of them is forgotten before God? Why even the hairs of your head are all numbered, fear not.

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Fear not. You are of more value than many sparrows.

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God's goodness comes into play when you recognize why he's so fearsome.

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He is fear inspiring, but he is also a loving, kind, merciful

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God. Therefore, he reminds us that your life is valuable, that your life is of great value.

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Therefore, don't waste it. Beware of the hypocrites, beware of the

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Pharisees, live a life authentic before God. Because he then in verse 8 tells us, and I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the

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Son of Man will also acknowledge before the angels of God. Again, remember the context here.

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Jesus is in the midst of speaking to his disciples as these thousands of people are gathering.

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You know what, Jesus knows that they don't. Many of those people who are coming to hear Jesus are not there to follow

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Jesus. You need to hear that again, I think. Many of those that came to hear Jesus didn't come to follow

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Jesus. They were there for other things. Maybe they were looking for a miracle. Maybe they were looking just to see what was the newest cool teacher, the newest faith that was coming into Israel.

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Notice and recognize this, beloved. In this time in the first century, many false teachers had arisen, many false messiahs had arisen and had named, claimed that they would be the saviors of Israel, that they would be the ones who would break the yoke of the

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Roman Empire over the land of Israel. And so Jesus was among many teachers and many others who were all claiming to be the messiah, who were claiming to be the savior of Israel.

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And yet Jesus turns his attention not to the crowds, but to his disciples.

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He warns them to beware, to beware. So friends, you and I must also take heed to this word.

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And he tells us that if anyone who acknowledges me before men, the

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Son of Man will also acknowledge him before the angels of God, saying this. When you know and fear the

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Lord, you must demonstrate it by acknowledging him before the men who you no longer fear.

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Now that's a tough call today. We live in a time in which being Christian is no longer as accepted as it once was.

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We live in a time in which you will be looked down upon for being a Christian, where many will criticize you because of your standards, because of your morality, because of your convictions.

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The easy route would be to just say, as Peter did, denied

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Jesus three times and say, well, I know Jesus, I love Jesus, but I won't confess

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Jesus before men. Beloved, that is an inauthentic faith, inauthentic faith.

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The Bible then goes on to say this in verse 9, but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

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So again, I opened up earlier saying these are among the most terrifying verses of Scripture. Why? Because he warns us against hypocrisy.

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He warns us against fearing men, but fearing the one who can cast the soul into hell itself.

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And then he says, if you deny me, then I will deny you.

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How terrifying is that? Beloved, it is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living

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God. Amen? As Christians, we must acknowledge

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Christ before man, which means that we must participate in Christian witnessing.

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The fear of the Lord compels us to share this good news before men and to overcome personal fear to proclaim that which we now know and confess, which is the fear of the

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Lord. Here's some practical things that this means and that you can use in your day -to -day life.

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Don't fear man and don't fear proclaiming Jesus to those around you, whether it be unbelieving family members who may have other religious convictions, who may be secular, who may be weary of Christians.

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Also, do not fear sharing the gospel with your coworkers, with those who are in authority, with those who are around you.

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Share Jesus, every opportunity you have, because you fear the

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Lord and you fear disappointing him, and you fear the consequence of not warning others about their terrible reality of hell.

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And hell is a terrible reality, friends. I don't like thinking about it, because I think of those who in my family have not yet been saved, who will likely die in their sin and unbelief, and I have to contend with the fact that those who

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I love may be subject to hellfire, may be subject to that. Here's one of the reasons why

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I believe I am elect and I'm regenerated, is because when

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I think of a terrible thing, such as loved ones being subject to hellfire, my initial reaction, though fearsome and fearful, it is also grateful that God's holiness will one day be vindicated over His enemies.

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God's holiness is of great value, and God takes

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His holiness seriously, so much so that sin must be accounted for.

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Therefore, beloved, acknowledge Him whom you are to fear before men whom you are not to fear.

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For the Son of Man will also acknowledge you before the angels and before the Father, but be aware that should you deny

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Him, He shall also deny you. For in verse 10 it says, for everyone who speaks a word against the

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Son of Man will be forgiven, but anyone who blasphemes against the

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Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. Another terrible and fearsome text of Scripture here.

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He warns us that there is a word that will be forgiven. If you speak against the

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Son, it shall be forgiven. For many in redemptive history spoke against the

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Son. Look at Saul of Tarsus who blasphemed the most glorious name, and yet God chose him to be the apostle of the nations.

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Yet there is a sin in which there is no forgiveness, in which there is no hope, and this is the sin of the blasphemy of the

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Holy Spirit. This will not be forgiven. Without going too deeply into this controversial subject,

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I think that the answer is actually quite simple and it's quite clear. What is the blaspheming of the

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Holy Ghost? This is the sin of apostasy.

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Notice what it says in Hebrews chapter 6. Hebrews is the 6th chapter.

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Notice what it says in verse 4 through 6. I believe this is referencing this unpardonable sin that Jesus mentions.

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Verse 4 says, for it is impossible in the case of those who have once been enlightened, who have tasted the heavenly gift, who have shared in the

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Holy Spirit and have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then having fallen away to restore them again to repentance, since they are crucifying once again the

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Son of God to their own harm and holding Him up to contempt. This is the sin of apostasy, a turning away from that which the

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Holy Spirit has once enlightened in the human heart and experience. Now again, we can spend an entire sermon and series on this subject alone, and if you have questions, me and the pastors here would love to talk to you more about this, but I think what would suffice for today's message is this warning, the spiritual implications of what is being said here by the

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Lord Jesus and by the writer of Hebrews, which is a warning to beware of apostasy.

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What is apostasy? That word simply means a turning away from. Now there are levels of apostasy, certainly.

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For instance, in ancient Israel, the ancient people of God apostasized time and time again, and yet God promised that He would heal them of their apostasy, but yet there is one particular apostasy which

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God does not forgive, and it is the blaspheming of the Holy Spirit. It is those who have been in fellowship with the

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Spirit in some regard, in some sense. They have tasted the heavenly gift, they've been enlightened to some degree, they have a share in the

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Holy Ghost, they have tasted the goodness of the Word of God and the powers of the age to come, and then fallen away.

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That's the word apostasy. They've fallen away, and for them, there is no more sacrifice of sin that can be applied to them, for there is no gift of repentance left for them, and so friends, beware of blaspheming the glorious Spirit that raised

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Jesus from the dead, and one sure way of accomplishing that and blaspheming the

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Holy Spirit is to disregard the sanctifying work of holiness in the life of the believer.

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That is not to say that we don't sin or that we don't backslide, but as a repudiation of the spiritual work of the

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Spirit, it is to repudiate what the Holy Ghost has done and has accomplished.

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Beware of blaspheming the Holy Ghost. I know you have much questions about that, and this is a subject that even for me is hard to truly grasp, and so please be patient with me, as I also want to beware of the word that has come out of my lips, because this is a fearsome thing to talk about, but one thing

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I've heard from pastors that I rest assure in as well is that if you have a sensitivity of fear of blaspheming the

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Holy Ghost, it is very likely that you have not, because what is the theme here? Jesus is contrasting between those who fear the

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Lord and those who don't. If you fear blaspheming the Holy Ghost, good, good.

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It means you likely have not praised the Lord, but if you have no contempt, if you have no fear of blaspheming the

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Spirit, beware, beware. Fear the

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Lord, fear the glorious Spirit of God. For this hope is for us as well, where it says in verse 11 of our main text in Luke chapter 12, he says, and when they bring you before the synagogues and the rulers and the authorities, do not be anxious about how you should defend yourself or what you should say, for the

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Holy Spirit will teach you in that very hour what you ought to say. So then the hope is clear.

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When we fear the Lord and when we've confessed Jesus Christ as our

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Savior, as our Lord, as our Sovereign, we are not to be anxious about how we are to defend ourselves before man.

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Why? Because in that very hour, the Holy Spirit will teach you.

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In that very hour, the Holy Spirit will accompany you. In that very hour, the Holy Spirit will empower you.

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Therefore, be wise not to trample upon that Spirit of holiness.

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For the Holy Spirit is our guide, He's our teacher. He's also referred to in John chapter 14 as our comforter, the one who will lead us into all truth.

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Do not forsake the third person of the Holy Trinity, God the Holy Spirit, for He is indeed our teacher, our comforter, our aid, our guide, and He shall lead us in that very hour, just as He has promised in times past.

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The Holy Spirit is truly the good gift of a good Father. Therefore, trust in God, fear

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Him, and He shall grant you the gift of His Holy Spirit. Friends, how can it be that you can experience this life free of the fear of man, this life that promises freedom from anxiety, freedom from the fear of all sin and evil and wickedness that this world has to offer?

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It's very simple. You and I, we're sinners. We've fallen short of God's perfect goodness, of His law.

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And because we have sinned, God has made a way for us to be right with Him through the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus Christ, who came in the fullness of time, born of the

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Virgin, live a holy, perfect life that you and I could not live. He died a death that we deserve.

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On the third day, God raised us from the dead, and after that, He ascended to the right hand of God the

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Father, where He lives now and for all eternity, interceding for His people as our glorious High Priest.

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Therefore, He beckons you today to come to Him, to fear Him and to love

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Him, to know Him and to be found in Him, because He is a good and wonderful Savior.

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He calls you today, come, come. May you come to Jesus even today.

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Let's pray. Wonderful Lord Jesus, we hear

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Your beckoning call through the words that You have said in times past, how we are to beware of the hypocrisy of outward religion, and how we are to live lives holy and authentically set apart for You.

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Lord, help us to overcome our fears. Help us to overcome the fear of man. Help us to overcome the fear of witnessing.

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Help us to overcome all the earthly fears and anxieties that would choke us from sharing our

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Christian witness and testimony. And Lord, help us to be empowered from on high with Your most glorious Holy Spirit, the

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Spirit of holiness, the Spirit that hovered over the surface of the deep, the same Spirit that raised

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Jesus from the dead, and the same Spirit that resided in us in the moment of regeneration, and the same

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Spirit that was given to us as the deposit of good things to come, and the same Spirit that shall lead us to glory.

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We ask and we beckon You, come and fill us, Holy Spirit. Be in us as our guide, as our comforter in this life and in the life to come.

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And Lord, let us be weary not to sin against this most glorious Holy Spirit, so that indeed we do fall into an unpardonable sin.

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Lord, safeguard Your elect as You have promised to do, for we also have this sure hope that not one shall be lost.

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And so Lord, we beckon You and we ask that You would have Your way in our hearts and our lives in this age and also in the age to come, when we will be truly like You and we'll be in glory for all eternity.