Escaping the Trap of Casual Christianity [FULL SERMON]

what I want to share with you about is quite unusual I'm really speaking a lot all over the United States and around the world on a particular subject right now but as I prayed and prayed and prayed for this conference and believe me I did I kept feeling the Holy Spirit pull my heart a different direction so I want to talk about intimacy I want to talk about intimacy intimacy with God does anybody want an intimate relationship with God can I see your hands well you know one of my favorite scriptures in regard to that is James 4:8 the Apostle James writes and he says this he says draw near to God and He will draw near to you draw near to God and then he will draw near to you so the question is who draws first him or us we do there's something that we do we initiate it that will literally cause the one who put the stars in the universe with his fingers and called every one of them by name to come near me now I don't know about you but that really excites me what the Apostle is saying here is simply this you not God are the one that determines the level of your relationship with him do I need to say that one more time you are the one that determines how close you're going to be with God in my travels I have learned that so many Christians so many Believers have this mindset that there are certain Christians that were born with like stars over their cribs people like Bill Johnson you you understand what I'm talking about Oral Roberts whoever you think but in my years of ministry I have discovered some of the people that walk the closest with Jesus are people that you're never going to see in pulpits why because they determined to be close to him they chose to be close to him in fact when you talk about being intimate with God God is more passionate listen to these words he's more passionate about being close with you than you are with him because verse five in this very same chapter says or do you not know that the spirit who dwells in US yearns jealously everybody say yearns that's not a word we use very much what does that mean it means to long for intensely and consistently now listen to that he the spirit of God in you Longs for you intensely and consistently you know Lisa and I we she's my closest friend on the planet but I'm going to tell you something there are B there are times she's not yearning for me intensely like like if I wake her up at 3: in the morning I I'm telling you she's not yearning for me you understand what I'm talking about she's like why you waking me up honey right but I have had him wake me up in the middle of the night and he's hoping that I'll meet with him because he yearns for you and me when I think about him yearning for us I think about what David says in Psalm 139 David said Lord if I consider the thoughts that you have about me personally this is not the church collectively me personally he said if I was able to number those thoughts they would outnumber every grain of sand that's on this planet now would you stop and think about every granule of sand that's on this planet every beach every desert every golf course that's a lot of sand I mean when I think about all the thoughts that I've had about my wife my my wife Lisa in the last 37 years of marriage I don't think I get a shoe box full of Sands because do you know what scientists tell us they tell us that in one cubic feet of beach one cubic feet that's how big one cubic feet is there's 1.8 billion grains of sand now how many of you know God can't exaggerate because exaggeration is a lie you know you've heard people say I caught a fish this big it was this big they was holding out like this so it looked this big but it was this big [Laughter] right it's just a nice little lie God can't lie so when God says my thoughts that I have about you outnumber every grain of sand is on this planet do you understand how much he's thinking about you and how many of you know you don't think about people like that that you don't want to be close to he yearns for us now here's the situation why in all my traveling all around the world do I meet so many Christians that are not experiencing intimacy with God there is a reason I believe because there's a foundation that we have to have in our relationship with God and if you don't have this Foundation it doesn't matter how much he wants to be close to you and how much you want to be close to him you can't be close to him without this foundation and this Foundation can be found in Psalm 89:7 Psalm 89:7 makes this statement it says God now look at these words is to be greatly everybody say greatly feared in the Assembly of the Saints and he's now look at this he's to be held in reverence by all those around him let me say this look at the second part of that of that verse God is to be held in reverence by all those who surround him you will never find the presence of God in an atmosphere where he's not held with the utmost of respect I just said something very powerful and there should have been a lot of amens I'll never forget when I first learned this back in 1996 I was asked to do a National Conference in the nation of Brazil it was in the capital city of Brazilia obado brother um it was in the capital city of Brazilia I remember um lots of people travel from all over I had never been to Brazil I was so excited I fly down there I have the whole day in the hotel room to prepare to pray I go it's the it's Friday night it's the National Conference there cars like literally blocks away I could just feel it as I was getting closer as far as the anticipation the excitement my first time in Brazil I remember they parked me in the parking lot I could hear the worship coming from the or the praise coming from the inside of the Arena because down there what they do is they have usually in these cities they have like a 5- foot gap between the upper wall and the ceiling for air ventilation and so I walked into the auditorium they put me on the platform there are thousands I mean it's like tonight there was I it was even more crowded than tonight there wasn't a seat open in the entire Arena and I'm looking at this worship team and and they they're good they're really good but you know there's not an ounce of the presence of God in the place now let me make this really clear the Bible describes two types of the presence of God one is is is his omnipresence right that's where David said where can I go from your presence if I go to the highest mountain you're there if I make my bed in the lowest Valley you're there that's the presence of God that says I will never leave you and nor forsake you right the other presence of God that is very very real in our Christian walk is called the Manifest presence of God Jesus said I will manifest myself to you right what does manifest mean it means to bring out of the Unseen into the realm of the seen out of the unknown into the realm of the known out of the unheard into the realm of the heard it's it's when God makes himself real to your senses that presence was totally absent in that building and I'm baffled because these are really good worship leaders the nation's best thousands of Christians because it was a Believers conference the the buildings filled and I and I'm baffled and and I remember under my breath I said God where are you what where's your presence and all of a sudden it's like my eyes open up and I'm seeing people sitting there during the worship looking around like this they they got their hands in the pocket looking down like this they're they're whispering to one another they're fumbling through their purses people are walking in and out you know getting some refreshments cuz they have concession stands in this massive Arena and I'm sitting there going this will calm down it's so calm down well they go to the word they go praise they go worship then one of the leaders gets up and he begins to read the word of God right and I'm still seeing people just sitting there looking around like this got the hands in their pocket looking down they're sitting there talking to one another and you can actually hear a little mum mumbling going on from people talking to each other and at this point I'm getting kind of upset right and and so all of a sudden they introduced me right and I'll never forget I I did something I don't know if I'd do it again but I just sat there and I I walked up and I just put my elbow on the on the podium and I just sit there and stared at everybody and didn't say anything now when it's Friday night and it's the National Conference and you had the guest speaker and you're just sitting there glaring at everybody for 45 seconds that will get people's attention right so they stopped looking around fumbling through their purses walking around and everybody just kind of stopped and looked at me and and when I realized I had every single on me in the entire Arena this is the first words I ever spoke in Brazil I said I have two questions question number one you're talking to somebody sitting across the table and the whole time you talk to them they're fumbling through their purse they looking at the ceiling they're looking down at the floor they talking and whispering to somebody sitting beside them will you continue to talk to them they said no I said what happens if you go over to somebody's house and you knock on their door and when they open the door they go I to you again and they walk away I said will you continue to go to their house they go they go no I said I've been in this Auditorium now for over an hour and I have not sensed an ounce of the presence of God and the reason is he will never come into a place where he is not held with the utmost of respect I said if the president of Brazil would have walked on this platform tonight he would have gotten 10 times the respect the Holy Spirit did I said if P your greatest soccer player would have walked in this platform tonight you would have been in the edge of your seats anticipating every word word I said you've given no respect to the presence of God in the next 75 minutes I preach to them about the fear of the Lord at the end of the 75 minutes I said every person I knew it was a believer's meeting I said every person in here you say you're born again you say you're a Christian but you lack the fear of God and you're willing to repent stand up 34s of the auditorium stood to their feet soon as they did listen to this presence of God falls on the auditorium no no no no no no we didn't even pray the presence of God just Falls and people start weeping all over the auditorium I'm like oh finally I mean services are so so tough when the presence of God is not there right and and and I'm like oh God this is wonderful right so last two or three minutes it lifts and the Lord said Whispers In My Heart said lead him in a prayer of repentance so I let him in a prayer of repentance all of a sudden now here comes another wave of his presence even stronger now people are Weeping right all over the place you can hear SBS it's wonderful right last about 3 minutes lifts and the Holy Spirit whispered to me he said I'm coming one more time tonight and the only way I know how to describe this and I could never describe this but I'm going to try is that you're at the end of the runway at DFW and a 737 takes off right in front of you that kind of a violent wind came blowing into that Auditorium okay when that wind began to blow the people started screaming now I want want you to imagine thousands of Latinos screaming how loud that would be right as loud as that is the wind was much louder and I remember I am standing there going and I remember I I'll never forget this I'm going oh my God because I've never experienced anything like this oh my God oh my God I'm saying this under my breath right and and and I'm going to tell you thought hit me I'm not saying it would have happened but I thought to myself John you make one wrong move you say one wrong word you're dead now would that have happened I don't know but it did happen with a guy named ananas he made a wrong move in that kind of presence and They Carried him out dead and his wife three hours later same thing so I'm sitting there going oh see let me tell you daddy didn't come in listen daddy didn't come in the king came in okay you understand he is Daddy but he's also King he is Aba father he's also the consuming fire and I'm sitting there and all I can say is I'm terrified but I'm not scared of him it's really crazy and I remember the wind lasted about 90 seconds seconds and it gradually subsided and left in its weight people collapsed all over the auditorium and I'm standing there I'm like what do I do and God said I'm through with you so I I I looked at the leader I said it's all yours so they whis me out to the car and the first person gets in the car is the national singer she's really well known in Brazil and her husband and she goes did you hear the wind now I still don't want to admit it I said oh it's probably a jet airplane flying over the top of the building right and she goes what are you she's mad at me now she goes what are you talking about I saw fire all around the building she's going right and I'm like aches and her husband calms her down he's a quiet quieter guy he says sir that that wasn't an airplane I said how do you know he said there a policeman all around the outside of the building he said most of them aren't even saved he said when the wind started blowing they all came running into the building to see what it was he said secondly hold on he said I'm at the soundboard because my making sure my wife's levels are right he said I'm looking at the soundboard the whole time the wind's blowing and the decimal meters were at zero he said now 1 ounce of the sound came over our sound system I said my God take me in my hotel they're like you want to go eat I said no take me my hotel the next morning you cannot believe the Miracles the deliverances what happened in the meeting on Saturday morning just because of one word because of reverence are you with me see I've learned something as a Believer I used to struggle to get in the presence of God I don't know if you've ever had that but maybe I was the only one but I I would struggle and one day I just started I didn't sing I didn't pray I didn't say a word I just started meditating on the awesomeness of my father right I just started meditating on how awesome he is right and all of a sudden bam there's the presence of God well I started doing this every morning all of a sudden I'm going whoa this is getting easy and so one day I said Lord this is now so easy getting your presence he said Son how did Jesus teach his disciples to pray and so I said it Our Father which are in heaven howow it Hallowed be thy name there it is Jesus taught his disciples to come into the the presence of God with reverence what is the fear of the Lord let's talk about it cuz people are scared of this word what is the fear of the Lord first of all it is not to be scared of God how can you have intimacy with someone you're scared of right so what is the fear of the Lord well let let me Begin by saying this the fear of the Lord is to be terrified to be away from him it's not to be scared of him it's to be terrified to be away from him Moses shows us this when Moses leads the children of Israel out of Egypt God was so excited he was like Hey man the whole reason I delivered you out of Egypt the whole nation was to bring you to me I can't wait to meet my kids tell them I'm going to come down and meet them right and when God comes down and meet the kids they all run away and they say Moses you talk to God we can't handle him and Moses is devastated and Moses I mean think about it Moses has already experienced him at the bush I mean Moses when he delivered Israel out of Egypt wanted to bring them right to the place that he met with God he didn't say to Pharaoh thus sayith the Lord let my people go that they can have a Promised Land he said thus sayith the Lord let my people go and they go worship him in the wilderness why does Moses want to bring him to the promised land before he first brings them to the promiser so God comes down and meet him they run away and Moses makes the statement to Israel this is the most powerful statement Exodus 2020 everybody say 2020 here's a 2020 vision for you Moses said to the people look at this do not fear look at this do not fear everybody say do not fear for God's come to test you what's the test that his fear may be in you so that you may not sin Now look up at me wait a a minute this sounds like a contradiction do not fear because God's come to see if his fear is in you so that you don't sin Moses isn't contradicting himself he's differentiating between being scared of God and the fear of the Lord the person that is scared of God has something to hide that's what Adam does in the garden he runs from the presence of God he got something to hide the person who fears God has nothing to hide he's terrified to be away from God he doesn't say how close can I get to the line of compromise and not fall in he says I want so far away from that line you can't even see it so what is it to fear God it's to venerate him that's a big word what does venerate mean venerate means to you honor respect esteem value reverence and stand in awe of him more than anything or anyone else we firmly Embrace his heart we love love what he loves and we hate what he hates you ever see a religious person go I Fear God that's why I hate those people you know you don't fear God at all because God's in love with those people so you hate what God loves good preaching John amen thank you so much y'all are really quiet on me right now so when you take his heart what is important to him becomes important to you what is not so important to him is not so important to you that's right so you love what he loves you hate what he hates this is why the Bible says the fear of the Lord is to hate evil no no no no listen listen noscea doesn't say the fear of the Lord is to dislike Evil Boy is quiet in his Methodist church right [Applause] now back in the late 80s early 1990s I prayed two hours at every single morning I'm not kidding I got up at 4:45 I was outside in a remote place praying by 5: and I prayed till 6:30 to 7: every single morning to be honest with you I wish I prayed like that now I read my Bible diligently but there was no anointing no anointing on my preaching was flat my prayers weren't anointed one day I said to God I said God I don't get it I pray like two hours every day I'm reading your word I'm serving you diligently I've left an engineering job and I'm working for a church I took a several thousand a year pay cut how come I'm not seeing a stronger anointing on my life you know what he said to me he said because you you tolerate sin not only in your life but in the lives of others I said what and then he brought me he brought me you know how the Holy Spirit does this to ro to Hebrews chapter 1 do you know when that God the Father inaugurated Jesus you remember that that on the day he was raised from the dead Hebrews 1 records that right look what God the father says to Jesus he says because you have loved righteousness and the Holy Spirit said stop every Christian loves righteousness he said but I didn't stop there he said and hated sin or hated lawlessness therefore God your God has anointed you more than your companions he said son learn to hate sin the way I hate sin you'll see the anointing of God increase upon your life I was in Malaysia I did 10 meetings it was the largest Bible School in the nation pastors had come from all over we had a full packed Auditorium 10 Services some of the hardest meetings I've ever experienced in my entire life 35 years of ministry and I'll never forget the very last meeting the spirit of God fell on that building I mean it was packed wall to wall and the spirit of God fell fell in that building like he did in Brazil again I'm not kidding my mind was screaming I can't take this it was so strong you have to understand there is a presence okay Isaiah is a very Godly man he's preaching woe to the wicked woe to the proud woe you see has one glimpse of God in his throne and he goes woe is me okay no longer woe is the wicked woe is me because he realized for the first time who this God was he was serving and I remember that presence came in and these these These Quiet Malaysian and women started screaming like they were on fire and it wasn't demonic I've seen demonic and I'm sitting there again going B you make a you make a wrong move you say a wrong word I don't know if you'll live through this and I remember my mind in that that particular time because it was even even stronger than Brazil I remember my mind went I can't handle this and my heart went God don't lift that is when I found out there's a difference between your heart and your your soul the word of God divides between Soul and Spirit I'm sitting there I'm having a fight my mind's going God please lift I can't handle this my heart's going God don't lift and I remember I'm walking back and forth reverently and out of my mouth comes these words this is the spirit of the fear of the Lord and I thought oh my gosh that's it I mean I'd never known this before but do you remember what Isaiah said about Jesus he said the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him do you remember this look at the scripture the spirit of wisdom and understanding the spirit of counsel and might the spirit of knowledge and the spirit of the fear of the Lord I thought that's one of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit no wonder Paul said work out your salvation with fear fear and trembling no wonder Paul said having the promise of walking in his presence let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the Flesh and spirit perfecting Holiness in the fear of God not in the love of God had evangelist that was in jail for five years one of the best known evangelists in the world and I said to him I said when did you fall out of love with Jesus he said I didn't and I looked at him I saidou in jail you committed adultery you did all this stuff to put you in jail he said John I loved him all the way through it and he sees I'm puzzled this is back in the early 90s and he said J I didn't fear God and he said there's millions of Americans just like me they love Jesus but they have no fear of God because look what Isaiah says look at this I put the scripture back up there his Delight Jesus's Delight everybody say Delight was in the fear of the Lord it wasn't in the spirit of wisdom it wasn't in wisdom and counsel might was in the fear of the Lord shouldn't his Delight be our Delight do you remember the Bible says in Hebrews that Jesus was heard because of his Godly fear it's one thing to pray it's another thing to be heard you still with me so this meeting's over in Malaysia and you remember it's a bible school and there were people from all over the that Hemisphere and there was a couple from India that were in the bible school they were in the meeting and she was one of the women just got rocked right and the couple comes up to me after the meeting and they go we feel so clean inside I said man you just hit it that's exactly what I Feel clean so I left next morning I'm in prayer and my my Malaysian hotel and the Holy Spirit just speaks to me and said read Psalm 19 I have no idea what Psalm 19 said seriously so I just start reading away and all of a sudden I get to the ninth verse and it says the fear of the Lord is clean look at this enduring forever and the Holy Spirit said to me he saidon Lucifer LED worship right at my throne he didn't fear me he didn't endure forever he said a third of the Angels were around my Throne they didn't fear me they didn't endure forever he said Adam and Eve walked in my presence they didn't fear me they didn't endure in the garden forever he said every every single single being that surrounds my Throne throughout eternity will have been tested in the fear of the Lord you still with me so what's what's the manifestation what's the evidence of somebody who fears God you understand what I mean by this what's the evidence in other words you put a knife in a socket if they're doing your funeral 3 days later the evidence is there was power in that socket if you live there was no power in the what's the evidence of somebody who truly fears God number one they'll obey God instantly you ever meet somebody who says well you know the Lord's been dealing with me about this now for several months and they kind of laugh about it right they're just laughing about their lack of The Godly fear it's really quiet in this Anglican church now number two listen you obey God even when it doesn't make sense God ever tell you to do something that didn't make a lot of sense to you you haven't been saved very long if you can't say yes to that right number three you obey him even if it hurts well I understand that one when my mom looks at me and goes you'll go to Bible School Over My Dead Body because she was strong Catholic it hurt especially when I didn't get invited to my dad's retirement party cuz she was scared I was going to witness to people but now she gives away my books yeah number four you obey him even when you don't see a benefit you know how many Americans the only way you can get them to obey God is if they see a benefit what's in it for me if you give God will do that if you pray God will do this well listen will God do that if you give absolutely Chris K couldn't have said it better tonight right give and it'll be given to you the world of the generous gets larger and larger right but that's not your motive number five you obey to completion Saul did 99.9% of what God told him to do but God said he didn't obey me sure is quiet here now I want to get to the scripture that I've been trying to get to all night this is the one I want to really talk to you about Psalm 25:14 one of my favorite verses in the whole Bible look at this look at this look at this verse friendship everybody say friendship with the Lord is reserved for those who fear Him with them he shares the secrets you know what God's saying right there you know God whoa whoa whoa you know what God's saying right there you know what God's saying God's saying not everybody's my friend let me go a little bit deeper okay God's saying not everybody in the church is my friend that one went over like a lead balloon two men in the Old Testament that were called the friends of God were there others oh yeah David's a friend of God you know Joseph's a friend of God but these two men's lives exemplify what it takes to have a relationship of Friendship with the Lord right the first guy is Abraham right he's called the friend of God right why does God call Abraham his friend because when Abraham's old God comes to him one night and says Abe yes yes sir I want you to sacrifice your son you know your son you've waited for for 25 years the son you love so much I want you to go three-day journey and kill him for me now God didn't say if you do this you'll seal the Covenant and I'll send my son he doesn't give him a reason he just says go kill him can you imagine the evening you know what my Bible says now look at this it says early the next morning Abraham's on his way now God gives him a three-day Journey why he wants three days for him to think it over in case he wants to turn back it's easy when you heard the booming voice of God the night before but what about two and a half days later when you look at his Mountain you're going to put your only son to death the one you waited for for 24 years just because God said did do it and didn't give you a reason Abraham goes to the top of the mountain builds the altar put Isaac's on the altar lifts up the knife he's ready to put the most important person or thing to death in his life just because God said do it and the angel of the Lord appears and the angel of the Lord says Abraham stop look what the angel says because now I know you fear God how did the angel know that he feared God because he obeyed instantly because he obeyed when it didn't make sense because he obeyed when it hurt because he obeyed when he didn't see a benefit and because he obeyed to completion now watch this Abraham puts down the knife unties Isaac lifts up his eyes sees a ram in the thicket and out of his heart Comes This Jehovah Gyra yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah but whoa whoa whoa God just revealed a facet of his listen of his personality to Abraham nobody had ever known before wait some of you aren get some no no I see blank looks on some of your faces okay all of you tonight know me as John B speaker some of you know me as John B author but there is a lady and whoa she is a lady her name is Lisa she knows me as John bav husband John B G daddy John B dad John B she knows me as John B athlete she knows me as John B lover can I say this none of you will ever know me as John B lover that is a facet of my personality is a reserve for one person the person that's closest to me on this Earth God just revealed a facet of his personality to Abraham nobody had ever known before because he's my friend preaching myself happy I don't know about you now now now now look at this look at the relationship between God and Abraham it's amazing one one day God says should we do to Sodom and Gomorrah well we're planning on doing without first talking to our friend Abraham so God comes down at the terit trees says Abe yes yes Lord yes Abe we thinking about blowing up these two cities what do you think Abe goes Sodom and the Lord goes yeah yeah yeah Gomorrah too what what do you think Abe goes oh my gosh think think my nephew's over there Lots over there oh my gosh thank okay God you wouldn't like blow up those two cities if there were 50 righteous people would you and the Lord goes excellent idea excellent idea okay we will not blow up the two cities if there's 50 righteous people glad we talked to our friend Abraham Abraham thinks what if there's not 50 okay what about 45 would you do it if there was 45 and God goes another good point right so AB talks God down to 10 people okay he figures there's got to be 10 Lots one all I need's nine others right but here's the scary thing there isn't okay now now now now listen listen listen listen listen the Bible says that Sodom and Gomorrah that they're buying they're selling they're marrying they're giving a marriage they're planting they're harvesting what let's put it in today's vernacular life is great the economy is booming and if if there's a God he doesn't care the way we live they're 24 hours away from being obliterated and they're clueless that's not what's scary that's not what's scary this is what's scary lot everybody say lot lot who the Bible calls righteous let me put it in today's vernacular saved born again okay lot is 24 hours away from being obliterated he's as clueless as Sodom it takes two angels of Mercy because Abraham prayed thank God Abraham prayed they came in and got LED out but even his wife you know Jesus said remember his wife right so now look up at me here's here's two saved men two Born Again men let's let's modernize it okay two righteous men born again right one saved Born Again righteous man knows what God's going to do before he does do it and helps God decide how he's going to do it the other righteous sa born again man is as clueless as the world why because this saved righteous born again man fears God therefore he's the friends of God therefore God shares his secrets with him this this saved born again man does not fear God therefore he is not the friend of God therefore he does not get the secrets Moses Moses knew his ways Israel knew his acts Israel knew God by how he answered their prayers do you know how many Christians there are the only way they know God is by how he's answered my prayers my daughter was sick I brought her to a bethl meeting she got healed Moses knew many times what God was going to do before he did and helped God decide how he was going to do it in fact twice go listen twice he changed God's mind the Bible says the Lord relented because of what Moses said to him two Born Again groups of people coming out of Egypt as a type of coming out of the world they ate that rock which was Christ they followed that rock which was Christ but yeah one group Only Knows God by how he answers their prayers the other one knows God so intimately he knows what God's going to do before he does it and he helps God decide how he's going to do it and twice changes God's mind now do you want to see this in the New Testament I said do you want to see this in the New Testament okay Jesus is it he's he's at the Last Supper right right are you are you following me okay so Jesus at the last and look what he says to his guys no longer do I call you servants now the fact that Jesus says no longer means at one time these 12 were looked at or these 11 were looked at and regarded as merely servants that's not a re Revelation that's an English lesson if I say no longer I'm calling you that means at one time I did see you as servants are you still with me why why does God do that why is there a time remember the Bible says as long as the heir is a child he differs nothing nothing from the servant why does God do that to protect us he doesn't want any ananas in saf situations let me give you a really weak example the first employee a messenger intern ever hired I said I had come out of two very large Ministries I said I'm going to run my Ministry totally or Lisa and I are going to run our ministry totally different every employee is going to be my best buddy some of you already know the stupidity of that wisdom so the first employee his name was John best buddy played ball together we he came over watch videos with us he ate Thanksgiving with us he was best friend right best friend it was great for the first year until I had to confront him because he was being rude to people at our resource table and when I confronted him gently he just points his finger at me and goes you're this and this and this and this and I'm sitting there going oh my gosh and I said God what do I do and the Holy Spirit said fire him so I said hey I'm really sorry you can't work for us anymore and he storms out the door and I'm crying because I really cared for the guy three months later he calls me up and says man God's never talked to me the way he's talked to me in the last three months I said oh yeah he Saidi took you for granted I lost sight of the position that God had placed you in my life I lost sight of the position God had placed Miss Lisa in my life I lost the sight of the position I had in your life and I had in her life I'm so sorry I said would you come back and work for us he did and we never had problems with him again now I have a new strategy okay somebody employee comes because we have 45 team members team member comes on board they are not best buddies but once I know they're very established in who I am and who they are then I bring a in some of my employees are my very closest friends you know what God says to us till you're very established and who you are before me and very established and who I am before you even though you are an ER I got to keep you as a servant because I don't want to see you end up like ananas and Safara but when you're very establish and who I am the fear of the Lord then I can bring you in as my friends you with me so now look at this Jesus says no longer do I call you servants a servant doesn't know what his master's doing the Master's ways his Secrets his wisdom his but he said I've called you now friends look at this here's a statement to the whole church you ready for this and I'm going to close Jesus said you are my friends we quote it we preach it we sing about it but we never finish the statement because because you notice the word if if is a condition if I say to you if you work for me if if if if you work for me for 20 hours I will pay you this much and you don't work the 20 hours you don't get the money and then you say Hey where's the money I said well I said if you work Jesus said you're my friends if there's a condition what's the condition he said if you do whatever I command you there it is the fear of the Lord trembling at his word do you know what Jesus is saying right there not everybody in the church is my intimate close friend but listen listen listen he passionately listen to my words he passionately desires every one of us to be his intimate close friends but you're the one that determines the level of your relationship with God not God therefore draw near to God and he'll draw near to you did you get it did you get it I want every head bowed I want every head bowed every eye closed I want every head bowed every eye closed you know I don't have to labor this labor on this I want you to ask yourself some questions you find yourself only obeying God when it's convenient for you you find yourself only obeying God when it doesn't interfere with your agenda your schedule your pleasure do you treat the word of God casually you take his presence for granted these are just some of the symptoms of a lack of holy fear but you know what Jesus said if you ask the father for the Holy Spirit he'll give him to you almost every day when I pray I ask the father for a fresh baptism of the Holy fear of God if you're in here tonight and you'd say John I I'm born again I I do love Jesus I'm like that Minister that you met in jail but I lack the fear of God and I know it and I want to I want the fear of God I want to repent of my lack of the fear of the Lord I want to ask him for it that's you stand up right now don't don't even wait for anyone else stand up right now wow wow about 90% of the building standing if you're sitting right now and you say John I really do fear God I want you to stand up with your brothers and sisters with the 90% of the people that are standing I want you to lift your hands up I want you to close your eyes because I want you to Open the Eyes of your heart I don't want you to see who's standing or sitting beside you it doesn't matter if you could see his face right now and some of you may get a glimpse you're not going to see an angry look you're not going to see a disgusted look you're not going to see Angry Eyes you're going to see the biggest smile eyes dancing with joy so strong though strong eyes you see those eyes Holy Spirit give them a glimpse of Jesus you're going to notice the body part posture he doesn't have his arms folded at his chest he's got his arms out reached to you he's got the hugest smile on his face you see him he wants to be your friend he Longs he yearns there's the presence of the Lord we haven't even prayed he's already here my goodness he just manifested he's here just keep your eyes open in your heart don't look for a feeling don't look for a manifestation look for him there he is right there right there right there right there wow Master thank you there's his presence right there holy spirit thank you so much I want you to say these words to the one you're looking at say these words father say am out loud father forgive me for my lack of holy fear I realize tonight I've been a little casual with you I've only seen you as Dad I failed to see you as king I'm asking you to forgive my ignorance and my my casual attitude cleanse me with the blood of Jesus I lift my hands to you and I'm asking you my father baptize me in the Holy Spirit of the fear of the Lord Jesus delighted Jesus delighted in holy fear so do I

Channel: John Bevere

Views: 325,195

Keywords: best sermons, christianity, forgiveness, honor's reward, how to forgive, how to serve, john bevere, john bevere 2023, john bevere bait of satan, john bevere god where are you, john bevere holy spirit, john bevere honor, john bevere honor's reward, john bevere sermon, john bevere sermons, mistreated, prayer, preaching, purpose, pursuing holiness, pursuing holiness sermon, sermon, servant leadership, servanthood sermon, the bait of satan, top sermons, unforgiveness

Id: hC5FHSY06Xk

Length: 47min 0sec (2820 seconds)

Published: Sun Oct 01 2023