How To Be Set Free From Fear | The Leader's Cut w/ Preston Morrison

when you don't understand you you will look to man to Define you here's the problem if I don't know who I am I will believe I am whoever you say I am when I know who I am I listen to the one who made me who I am rather than to the ones who can only perceive who I am sinful man cannot stop what a sovereign God seeks to see happen and come to pass when you keep God in his rightful place in your heart man will always stay in his rightful place in your life which brings us to in my opinion the most important question in this episode what is the number one antidote to the fear of man what's up everybody welcome back to the leaders cut this is your first time joining us what's going on Welcome to the conf ation it's great to have you as a part of our community this isn't just some one-sided teaching kind of a thing the way we like to roll jump in the comments if you have questions if you have comments if you have concerns jump in the comments let me know let us know you won't just hear from me most likely our little Community does a great job of jumping into the conversation so uh if you're new jump in and let us know we'd love to welcome you to the table the way we roll here is we are are endeavoring to be seated at a table I'm seated at the table you're seated at the table and we desire that the god of the universe would be seated at the table as well because if he's not then we're all just wasting our time in my opinion uh so don't just think you're here to listen to somebody that maybe one of your friends said hey you got to listen to this guy no no I was just praying before we started filming and I said Lord no one would listen to one word I am saying if you are standing next to me talking at the same time and so my heart is just to stay out of his way and let the spirit of God speak so let's pray and we'll jump right into the cuts God thank you so much for your nearness the fact that the god of the universe would ever desire to be near to us is mindblowing but God the fear of man most certainly gets in the way of intimate fellowship with you and so Holy Spirit I pray that you would do whatever cutting you need to do on our hearts on our flesh as it relates to the fear of man and some of us it goes way way way back to some things when we were children Holy Spirit I know you're you're not a stabber you are a sweet surgeon of Heaven who when there is something that needs to be cut off you most certainly don't shy away from it but you are not chasing us trying to Lunge towards us you so gently come to us and bring peace to us while you cut on us to make more room for you and your movements in and through our lives so Holy Spirit we yield ourselves to you we ask you do whatever you want to do in our hearts and in our lives say whatever you want to say we have pulled up a seat at your table so now we ask you do whatever you want we're here for it in Jesus name amen amen all right let's talk about the fear of man and and Proverbs 29:25 really calibrates our hearts uh for the uh severity the seriousness with which we must see and understand the fear of man Proverbs 29:25 says the fear of man brings or is a snare but whoever trusts in the Lord shall be safe now the picture Proverbs 29:25 is painting for us is like that of a bear wandering through a forest and coming upon a trap and stepping into it and being stuck for a long period of time this is the picture of the fear of man it is a trap we step into and I would say we willingly wow ignorantly step into and that trap the fear of man is something that holds Us in bondage for a very long period of time until we do something about it so I've been praying that this wouldn't just be a teaching that this would be uh a moment of Freedom if you struggle with the fear of man and we're going to walk through what it is how do you know you that you struggle with it the dangers of it how to overcome it what does it look like to no longer live with it we're going to walk through all of that stuff all right we're gonna answer a lot of questions but I don't want the power of this episode to be the information where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom and when we become aware of a trap we have stepped into willingly and we call upon the name of the Lord to free us where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom and so what's going to come with the cuts today I believe is freedom not just freedom in Christ freedom from the fear of man so let's jump into this and let's let's answer some questions about the fear of man first how does one know they struggle with the fear of man couple of things first you know you struggle with the fear of man when you seek the approval of man the fear of man always involves a need for the approval of man John 12: 42 and 43 Jesus is painting a picture of some people who believed in him they were they were I I can't say all in on him and you're going to see why but they believed in him but Jesus points out why they didn't go all in on him let me read it to you John 12:42 says nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in him in Jesus but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him now the implication here because of their fear of the Pharisees the fear of man lest they should be put out of the synagogue now notice and we're going to talk about this later in the episode the fear of man one of the ways it's exposed the fear of man comes because we're afraid of what man might do to us all right so while these people believed in Jesus they they didn't go all in because they were afraid of the Pharisees and the reason they were afraid of the Pharisees they were afraid the Pharisees would kick him out of the synagogue and they wanted to be in the synagogue now watch this last part it is scripture makes it clear for they love the praise of men the approval of man so notice the praise of men is connected to the fear of man they love the praise of man more than the praise of God they love the approval of man more than they loved the approval of God now fear of man is rooted typically in a fear of rejection I want to be sensitive with this because I know some of us um recently and some of us going way back in our past as children uh we experienced rejection and and when you experience rejection it's not uncommon to for a a fear of rejection to be created because rejection doesn't bring good feelings right just think about a time in your life when you were most rejected by a man or a woman immediately my mind goes to a moment when I was 19 years old and I experienced the most overwhelming rejection from a human that i' had ever experienced before and without even realizing it that rejection created a fear of rejection and that fear of rejection created a fear of man fear of rejection always creates a need for approval and what we end up doing so that we're not rejected is what's called people pleasing we please people because we want their approval we want their approval because we're afraid of their rejection and and how it will make us feel I have a couple of questions for you I'm asking and answering a couple of questions for us but I have a couple of very specific questions for you that connect to or will help expose uh where you're at personally with the approval of man first question how do you handle the disappointment of man how do you handle when people are disappointed in you does it make you sad does it make you want to do something uh for them to be pleased with you immediately if if you feel led to make a decision which others are disappointed by how does it land on you do you want to go back and do it over again and do it differently do it the way they wanted you to do it or they they will not be disappointed with you or do you just go I'm sorry you're disappointed in me one of the ways we know we struggle with the approval of man is when they're disappointed in us we're disappointed in us even if what we did was the right thing let me say it like this if I'm obeying God and they're disappointed in me their disappointment isn't in me it's actually in the one who gave me the order which means their disappointment and dissatisfaction is between them and God not them in me now this doesn't mean I can just go play the God card anytime I want well God told me I I you're mature enough to understand what I'm saying I'm just telling you if you struggle with the approval of man you're going to struggle to obey God because one of the things I've learned when God is pleased the flesh is pissed when the flesh is pleased God is certainly not happy so if you struggle with the approval of man you're going to struggle with obeying God second question I have for you how do you handle the disapproval of man so there's the disappointment of man but then there also the disapproval of man one of the the times in life where this probably happens most consistently for many of us when we first get married and especially if you're the firstborn and your parents aren't used to you making choices based on your new family uh between husband and wife between wife and husband uh as compared to how you made choices and decisions when you were a part of their family solely I I want you to think about when someone is is disapproving of your choices how does it land on you when my parents would disapprove of a choice I was faced with figuring out why and what do I do with this and here's what I would say I've learned it's always wise to seek approval from the one you answer to and and and it's it it's probably easiest just to see in this way I'm not I'm not calling out my own parents it that's just how it goes when you don't have all the details you're probably going to disapprove of some of the choices so don't don't get too you know died in on this but here's what I would say when I was in my father's house I answered to my father but when I became the priest of my home and married my wife I answered to the Lord and to the Lord alone and so I learned there going to be times where I make decisions that man disapproves of if you struggle with the approval of man most likely when a human disapproves with one of your choices you will change your choices and this is going to to lead to a massive amount of instability James probably said it better than anybody in Scripture A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways one of the pictures of a double-minded man is for exactly what we're talking about I feel like I'm supposed to do this and but then this person disapproves and so I I change it from this to whatever they want listen that is a massive measure of instability and this is what always happens when a child of God struggles with the fear of man here's uh another reason why we experience the fear of man you overestimate the authority of man you overestimate the authority of man so we struggle with the approval of man but then we also overestimate the authority of man Matthew 10:28 Jesus sayso not fear Those Who Kill the body but cannot kill the soul but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and Body in Hell Jesus is giving us the cheek code for overcoming the fear of man and we're going to talk about this later towards the end of the episode that the way to overcome the fear of man is the fear of God Jesus is giving us that cheat cod in Matthew chap 10 verse 28 but he's addressing this this fear of man and and he he he is tearing it let me personalize it the way you know I love to Jesus saying Preston listen you have this fear of someone who can only do so much to you another way to say it who has a limited amount of authority in your life but what you really should do is you should fear the one who has all authority in heaven and on Earth here's another way to say it it's crazy to think that someone in Authority in your life has more authority over your life than the author of Life who gives you life bars but this is this is what we do and we don't even realize how crazy it is it's crazy to think that someone with a limited measure of authority in your life is to be respected and revered more than the one who not only has the authority over your life but the one who has all authority in heaven and on earth now scripturally one of the best pictures of this is in Exodus with Pharaoh Pharaoh the man with with a massive measure of power on the earth Moses is um at times battling a measure of fear of pharaoh because Pharaoh has so much power in Moses eyes and what do we see happen Moses would go to pharaoh and say God says Let My People Go Pharaoh would say nah I'm not doing that time and time again he kept going back they walked through the 10 plagues and by the 10th one what happens Pharaoh does exactly what God Said would happen he sends them out the people of Egypt send the people of Israel away from them bestowing riches upon them scripture talks about the fact that God hardened Pharaoh's heart now this deals with the sovereignty of God God hardened Pharaoh's heart why did he do it so that God could miraculous do miraculously do what he wanted to do which would bring him the utmost glory and if pharaoh and the first time just said yeah go ahead y y'all can go no big deal we wouldn't have the 10 plagues we wouldn't have the miraculous testimony of the faithfulness of God through the 10 plagues and so God hardened Pharaoh's heart which helps us understand this principle sinful man cannot stop what a sovereign God seeks to see happen and come to pass ain't going to happen so all of us need to be reminded because here's one of the things I hear when we talk about the fear of man well Preston that person's my boss they could fire me yeah yeah I get it and what Jesus was saying in Matthew 10 is yeah listen here's here's the way to see that they have a limited measure of authority now make sure in your heart and in your mind don't exalt them above the one who has all authority because sinful man cannot stop what a sovereign God seeks to see happen and desires to come to pass not happening all right so th this is kind of why and of course it's not an exhaustive list but these are two of the ways we know we struggle with um the fear of man now the next question so that we all stay away from the fear of man what are the dangers of the fear of man first hypocrisy hypocrisy now we've been talking about this for a little bit Todd and I talked about it in our episode on in congruence and being congruent followers of Christ but here's one of the problems when you're afraid of man you are almost guaranteed to be a hypocrite so if you struggle with being one person here and another person there I'm I'm not trying to come at you but it's an inarguable fact you struggle with the fear of man otherwise you'd be the same man or woman in every room one of the dangers of the fear of man is hypocrisy one of the best pictures of this Peter Galatians Chapter 2 starting in verse 11 gives us this moment in Peter's life and it it seems pretty clear that Peter struggled with a fear of man here's remember one of the things that happens the night of the Betrayal Peter denies Jesus three times because a little girl asks him now I'm I'm being a little sarcastic and silly I'm not trying to to minimize anyone but I believe it was a little girl on purpose to point out Peter wasn't afraid of the little girl he was afraid of the perception of man this was something it seems Peter struggled with semic consistently in Galatians Chapter 2 there is a moment which is being described where Peter is being hypocritical and scripture helps us see exactly why he was being a hypocrite Galatians 2:1 says but when Peter came to Antioch I had to oppose him to his face Paul says for what he did was very wrong when he first arrived he ate with the Gentile believers who were not circumcised this is not not wrong but afterward when some friends of James came Peter wouldn't eat with the Gentiles anymore he was afraid of criticism from these people fear of man who insisted of the necessity of circumcision as a result other Jewish Believers followed Peter's hypocrisy and even Barnabas the encour was led astray by their hypocrisy okay number one this shows us the power of hypocrisy that that it is like a moth to a flame when when I walk in a hypocritical manner it's going to give others the right to do so as well in their eyes Peter wasn't afraid to sit with with the Gentiles and of course to some it was a highly uh inflammatory choice and so those who demanded circumcision another way to say it idolized circumcision Peter knew they're not going to like the fact that I'm sitting with the uncircumcised and so rather than allow that to lead to a healthy and godly discussion what does Peter do he Chang changes his behavior now some might say well isn't that like Paul being all things to all people no no no Paul doing that was a tool of ministry Peter doing it was a tool of hypocrisy Paul wasn't changing who he was and he was not moving off of the main things Peter did when you fear man you will hide from one man what you intentionally do before another man can I just tell you I I used to live like this back in the day it's an exhausting way to live and eventually you're going to get caught because you can't remember who you are wherever you are is it these people that don't like this is and Peter got CLA better to not walk in the fear of man and make choices which might anger and disappoint some then live a life where your only goal is to appease everyone I need you to hear this if you struggle with the fear of man I need you to hear this you cannot please God and appease everyone else at the same time they're there going to be moments where when you please God it's pleasing to people but there will also be moments where when you please God it will be displeasing to people and we have to decide will we in those moments become Hypocrites I hope not I hope we won't Peter did unfortunately let him serve as an example and as a reminder to us here's another danger though of the fear of man you're going to make choices you regret when you make choices based upon the fear of man you are going to regret your choices a great example of this is Herod and I'm actually going to read you uh just straight out of my Bible I I just want to read this to you um Mark chapter 6 starting in verse 17 Herod had sent soldiers to arrest and imprison John John the Baptist as a favor to herodias she had been his brother Philip's wife but Herod had married her John had been telling Herod it is against God's law for you to marry your brother's wife so herodias bore a grudge against John and wanted to kill him but without herod's approval she was powerless this is a fascinating story to me for Herod respected John another translation says he feared John and and that's what you'll see fear is a respect thing whom you respect is who you will fear you you will if you respect them at a high level there will be a measure of fear that you feel towards them that could be bad with man and good towards God literally Herod was afraid of John he had seen him roll her respected John he feared him and knowing that he was a good and holy man Herod protected John Herod was greatly Disturbed whenever he talked with John but even so he liked to listen to him here's how you know John the Baptist did not struggle with the fear of man because we see in this story a literal lack of the fear of man got John the Baptist killed by man let's keep reading herodias chance finally came on herod's birthday he gave a party for his high government official army officers and the leading citizens of Galilee then his daughter also named herodias came in and performed a dance that greatly pleased Herod and his guests ask me for anything you like the king said to the girl and I will give it to you he even vowed I will give you whatever you ask even if it's up to half my kingdom she went out and asked her mother what should I ask for her mother told her ask for the head of John the Baptist so the girl hurried back to the king and told him I want the head of John the Baptist right now on a tray then the king deeply regretted there it is deeply regretted what he had said but because of the vows he had made in front of his guess fear of man so he's afraid of John we see he had a fear of man but then because of the vow he had made in front of his guests not because of the vow in other words not because he was a good man but because he had made a vow in front of his guest and he was afraid of what they would think if he went back on his vow fear of man he realized he couldn't refuse her so he immediately sent an executioner to the prison to cut off John's said and bring it to him the soldier beheaded John in the prison brought his head on a tray and gave it to the girl who took it to her mother all of this because of the fear of man When we struggle with the fear of man the choices we make will be choices we regret let me say it like this when you walk with God but make your choices based on the fear of man you will regret every single time you make a choice based on them not him so this is one of the reasons we need to stay away from the fear of man all right because one of the things you'll learn with man is what pleases one angers another and so you're going to regret your choices because they're not actually your choices they're their choices it wasn't herod's desire to have John the Baptist Guild he liked listening to him but because he got wrapped up in the fear of man he made a choice he probably regretted for the rest of his life here's the third thing that's so dangerous about the fear of man Disobedience this is Saul King Saul how is the kingdom ripped from his grasp let me take you to 1st Samuel 15 he's sinned God told him to take out AAG and all the amalekites and Saul doesn't do it and watch Saul's reason for not doing what God Said 1 Samuel 15 starting at verse 24 says then Saul admitted to Samuel yes I have sinned I have disobeyed your instructions and the Lord's command then he says why for I was afraid of the people clear as day fear of man I disobeyed the Lord because I was afraid of man I was afraid of the people and did what they demanded Ed you think that was the choice that Saul regretted you're hearing it in his voice when he tells you why he did it watch but now please forgive my sin and come back with me so that I may Worship the Lord now literally translated it says come back with me so that I may Worship the Lord before the elders or in front of the elders but Sam replied I will not go back with you since you've rejected the Lord's command he has rejected you as king of Israel one of the biggest dangers of the fear of man is it's going to lead to you disobeying God whomever you fear you will obey please let that sink in all right I I you hear me talk about obedience and Disobedience all the time because it's a cheek go code in the Kingdom of God but the problem is you won't obey God when you fear man whomever you fear you will obey it brings us to the next question why does one struggle with fear of man so the first question was how do we know we struggle with the fear of man but this question is why does a person struggle with the fear of man I'm going to give you two things to to add to this conversation first one of the reasons we struggle with the fear of man is not understanding our identity if you struggle with the fear of man one of the reasons probably is because you don't understand your identity when you don't understand you you will look to man to Define you again something I struggle with for years when I was younger when I was in junior high public school I was trying to be the cool guy I had no idea who I was it didn't start getting clear for me till I was probably around 12 or 13 reading through scripture for the first time cover to cover but before that just before that I had no idea what my identity in Christ was it wasn't until I started reading God's word that I started to get clear on my identity in Christ here's the problem with that I was willing to do what whatever they thought was cool because when I did something they thought was cool they would tell me about it they would describe me another way to say it they would identify me and when they identified me I thought that meant it was revealing my identity but it wasn't it was just revealing their perception here's the problem if I don't know who I am I will believe I I am whoever you say I am when I know who I am I listen to the one who made me who I am rather than to the ones who can only perceive Who I Am the perception of Man by man changes with every passing man every single student at Kennedy Jor High had a perception of James Preston Morrison it was all different and because I wasn't clear on my identity in Christ and who God had made me to be that no one else will ever get to be on planet Earth because I wasn't clear on my identity I was willing to take the perception of man whatever this they said I was that's what I thought I was and this a a not understanding your identity is going to always make space for the fear of man why because if you think that it's man or woman who will give you your identity you will chase them around do whatever they say change whatever they say change just so you will get their approval see approval and identity go hand inand when when you seek out the approval of man it's actually an an identity issue because when you're clear on who you are you actually don't need the approval of man it it just doesn't land the way it does when we're completely unclear on our identity here's um another reason and this one might surprise you so not understanding your identity probably isn't a surprise but this one probably is we experience a fear of man because we don't have an understanding of God's nearness not understanding God's nearness always makes more room for the fear of man Hebrews chap 13: 5 and 6 say this for God himself has said I will never leave you Preston nor forsake you so we may boldly say the Lord is my helper I will not fear now watch this because it's talking about the fear of man what can man do to me look at this this this is so clear right in front of our faces but many of us we we we don't even think about digging into the text to go wait a minute you mean God's nearness is one of the ways to overcome the fear of man you bet your Bottom Dollar it is for God himself has said I will never leave you or forsake you Preston this is why it is my nearness it is my presentness which is your guarantee that you don't need to be afraid of man or what man could do to you so we may boldly Preston you may boldly say because of my nearness god of the universe is my helper because the god of the universe is my helper I will not I will not be afraid of any man or woman who walks the face of this Earth or what they could do to me because what could man do to me when God is with me Deuteronomy 31:6 says like this be strong and of good courage do not fear nor be afraid of them man don't be afraid of man for here's why you shouldn't be afraid of man for the Lord your God he is the one who goes with you he will not leave you nor forsake you you hear me talk about Exodus 33 uh a decent amount of time because it's just one of my favorite chapters in all of scripture and and the conversation starts with Moses saying you keep telling me I'm going to the promised land but you're not telling me who's going with me and God says uh how about I go with you that's where God starts this is why I love deuteron Deuteronomy 31 don't be afraid of people Preston for I go with you don't focus on who of man goes with you they will come and go I'm the one who goes with you and I promised you I would never forsake you I would never leave you and it is my nearness Preston that will nullify the fear of man fear of man causes you to chase man and run from man whereas The Nearness of God causes neither just get this picture fear of man causes you to chase after man to get the approval of man but then when they're they're disapproving of your choices when they're disappointed in you when they're frustrated because you're not doing what they want we run from them so we chase them for their approval and then we run from their disappointment whereas The Nearness of God Scripture says causes neither of those things I don't chase after man and I don't run away from man when God is near I do not Chase man because no man can make me feel what he can and does make me feel when God is near I don't run from man when man chases after me because they have to go through him to get to me one of the things I love in the comments and in the DMS is the the headshake thing I clearly have a tell that and we're going to talk about this as actually the very last thing in this episode uh but a tell when I get riled up in Godly confidence is that my head gets gone it has a movement a very specific movement how can you sit still when you realize the god of the universe is with you and you get to be with the god of the universe why would I ever run after man to get approval from them when the god of the universe who created me is with me having said that why would I ever run away from man because I'm afraid of man and what man could do to me when God is near to me the one holding up the universe with the power of His word is with me why would I ever be afraid of what man good do to me this seems like it it seems too good to be true honestly that the presence of God nullifies the fear of man but I'm telling you from experience it's a thing it wasn't until I started lingering in the secret place that I started to see my fear of man go out to seea truthfully to very very rarely ever return again I'm not saying I'm some kind of big bad thing I'm just telling you the more time you spend in the presence of God and are and live in an awareness of The Nearness of God the less you are concerned with the ways of man the thoughts of man the perception of man can I get an amen so some of you I know are asking this question okay Preston it's clear that I struggle with the fear of man you you've made that clear what do I do about it how do I deal with the fear of man three things first confess it confess it I don't know if you've learned the power of confession yet but I want to help you understand just how powerful confession is one of the things I believe the enemy loves to do is to try and get us to buy the lie that if we confess something we're struggling with that it's going to cost us the respect of man it's going to cost us U favor with man it's going to cost us opportunities uh God's going to be angry with us the enemy tries to get us convinced of all kinds of things so we will not confess what you have to remember anytime the devil tries to stop you from doing something it's because he fears the power which will be found in you doing that thing confession is one of the most powerful things a Christ follower will ever do precc confession we're up under a weight with confession we release the weight let me say it like this as long as I cannot admit something is a problem it will always be a problem confession is the act of admitting I've got a problem so with the fear of man step one I have to confess it you've already heard me say it I'm confessing to you even though it happened years ago I lived with the fear of man now I will say as a 45 year-old man sometimes I probably don't live with enough of an understanding of man in a world full of men and women because sometimes I'll just be like yeah God is with us it's okay like it's okay if if so and so leaves of so and so it's okay I I probably need to to find um a a a balance let's say because I've just I I've gotten to a place it's not something that I struggle with the way I used to but where did that begin it started with me confessing this is a major problem for me you can't even wrap your mind around how big of a problem the fear of man was for me in my my late teen early 20s uh it was massive and so the first step in dealing with the fear of man you got to confess it fear of man is a sin and sin must be confessed it's a fault confess your faults one to another that you may be healed one of the amazing things as long as you're holding on to and hiding something you were not meant to carry there will be a wound there will be a disease attached to it but when we confess our faults one to another we will be healed and it's the first step to being healed so if you're going to deal with the fear of man step one got to confess it step two and this one's not an easy one just like step one isn't critique it you can't deal from a long-term perspective with the fear of man if you don't critique it it's not enough just to confess it have you ever uh committed a sin confessed it but because you didn't dig around in the soil as to why you did it you kept doing it we've all been there right not just with this sin with any sin it's very important to critique it and here's here's kind of as it relates to the fear of man here's a a very beneficial question that will lead to some critiquing some digging around in the soil of your heart why do I feel this way okay so step one and let's try and paint a picture I have a fear of man and it comes out with my boss and my boss ask me to do things that I know are wrong and I do them because and and this is the why that's the what here's the why because I'm afraid I'll lose my job why do I feel afraid that I'll lose my job because actually deep down I'm afraid I won't be able to get another job that will pay me what this one does why are you afraid that you can't get another job that will pay you like this one well because I probably don't trust the Lord the way that I should you see how digging in the soil of our heart we just keep getting deeper and deeper into the why behind what we do I deal with so many people who want to dabble in the whats but it's impossible to experience freedom in your life from sin if you don't start dealing with the wise why do I do this why do I feel this way why do I see it that way causing me to feel that way critique your why behind your fear of man maybe it's not a boss thing maybe it's a parent thing you're an adult child and you have a a parent let's say a mother who is um not afraid to tell you exactly what they want when they want it and what they expect of you and that they expect you uh to do it to do everything they expect exactly the way they expect it to be done and because you've always done it and maybe you grew up where if as kids when you didn't do what was expected it created a for alarm fire and and so without even realizing it you've just created so much space for the fear of man the fear of your mother that you don't even address it anymore it just becomes normal and any sin which is normalized will be repeated until it's deemed to be abnormal it's not normal as an adult child to just continue to act like a six-year-old it's not normal nor is it going to lead to good things now listen we're not talking about dishonoring we're talking about taking honor way too far to where you just do whatever they say it's actually a fear of man thing when when as an adult child you do whatever your mother says whenever she says it no matter why why she says it it's not that's not an honor thing that's a fear of man thing and if I fear one man or woman it's a wide open door to to fear any or even every man or woman in Authority in my life so first step confess it second step critique it third step confront it confront it the fear of man is is something which must be confronted here's the question we must answer this is the question of Confrontation how will I deal with this so confession is what is it critique is why do I do it confrontation is and how will I deal with it David shows us this pattern better than almost anybody in script rure where he will say God they're chasing me he'll start a Psalm saying they're chasing me and they want to kill me are you watching this like I I couldn't sleep last night because I'm afraid of what they're wanting to do to me then he would start processing but Lord I know you're the one who has all power then I'm I'm just paraphrasing I'm just giving you David's heart as he would navigate through this time and time again again in the Psalms as he would critique why do I feel this way well Lord I'm exhausted there were several times he he would say I'm I'm exhausted I've been on the run this whole time that's why I'm doing what I'm doing and then he will end the psalm confronting his fear of Man by exalting The God Who he fears most who he fears more than any and every man David would repeat this pattern time and time time again in the Psalms confess it critique it confront it how will I deal with this what will I do about it often here's one of the first steps in dealing with someone where you've experienced the fear of man in that relationship whether it be familial or organizational uh boundaries one of the ways you don't have to kick people out of your life just because you experienced a fear of man because of them but you might have to put up boundaries that's one of the healthiest ways to deal with the fear of man hey I want you to do this I'm sorry I'm not going to be able to do that because I know it's not right and in the past I've done what you said because I was afraid of what you might do to me and even if and this is how Daniel rolled Daniel took the the no fear of man approach the way we should even if you do fire me Shadrach mhach and Abednego this is what they even if powerful words even if God doesn't rescue us we're still not doing what you say even if you fire me I can't do what you're asking me to do Mom even if you ghost me for a month because I don't do what you are demanding that I do which I know I shouldn't do it's okay it's okay go ahead and ghost me and here's what you're doing now you're putting it on their platter to deal with because now it's not between you and them it's really between them and God and that's when I back up and I let the Lord step in all right so don't be afraid to confess it you're going to have to if you're going to get free from the fear of man you must confess it if you're going to experience ongoing Freedom you're going to have to critique to discern the why behind your fear of man and then you're going to have to confront it you're going to have to do something about it it's not just magically going to go away all right which brings us to in my opinion the most important question in this episode what is the number one antidote to the fear of man we've already discussed it it's the fear of God why why is this the number one antidote to the sickness of the fear of Man Simple because it's impossible to fear God and man at the same time choose you this day whom you will serve whom you decide to serve him or them is whoever you'll fear because it's impossible to fear God and to fear man at the same time so Le let's kind of ask a few questions about the fear of God because there's a lot of misunderstanding about this subject what is the fear of God when to answer that question and I've taught on this before so you can you can look it up whatever uh platform you're on whether it's Spotify Apple um whether it's YouTube whatever the platform you can just look up just put in my name and put in the fear of God I've taught on this before but just to do a little refresher course first let me tell you what the fear of God isn't the fear of God is not being afraid of God all right that that's so [Music] often a a newer believer or a less aware or understanding believer hears the term fear of God and assumes it means we're supposed to be scared of God you know that's not true based on things God says all throughout scripture if God wanted you to be scared of him he would never say I will be found by you if you seek after me I will be found by you he wants to be found by you think about it when we're scared of someone what do we do we run away from them how could God want us to be afraid of him scared of him if the distance which sin created between us and him he closed that Gap by sending his son to die in our place and for us so that what we could spend forever intimately connected to him so it's impossible that the god of the universe would want his children to be afraid of him so the fear of God is not being afraid of God fear of God doesn't push us away away from God okay being scared of God does fear of God is one of the ways God draws us nearer to himself which kind of brings up something to think about a fear of God is actually afraid of being far from God what is fear of God if that's that's what fear of God isn't what is fear of God the most simple way I can say it a fear of God is a divinely healthy awe of God one of my favorite pictures of this and I'm not going to spend too much time here but one of my favorite pictures of this is Moses in the burning bush he is is in awe he's afraid of this unbelievable fire that isn't burning up the bush so he's in awe of it so part of him is afraid but it's not scared of it's It's a fear of God he knew it was God and God speaks from the bush so he had a healthy fear of God but what does he do he had this awe of God but he also had this curiosity about God and scripture says and he had to present's paraphrase he was compelled to get closer to the Bush to see what in the world was going on fear of God is actually afraid of being far from God fear of God is just simply a divinely healthy awe a respect of God let me try and illustrate it like this when we make people big God is not big when God is big people are not fear of man always makes people intimidatingly huge but fear of God keeps me mindful that God is immeasurably huge the fear of man is based on what others say and want whereas the fear of God is based on who God is and what he has promised fear of God is a healthy all of God which keeps God in his place in our heart his rightful place when God is big man is small one of the ways we know we're not walking in the fear of God is Man seems bigger to us than God here's the next question about the fear of God Preston how do I walk in it how do I walk in the fear of God 1 Peter 2:17 is genius advice honor all people love the Brotherhood love the Believers fear God okay honor everyone love the Brotherhood fear God honor the king honor those in Authority when you keep God in his rightful place in your heart man will always stay in his rightful place in your life what when God who he is on the throne there is none above him when he is in the rightful place in my heart man always will stay in his rightful place in my life no matter how much power no matter how much money I've had people with big checks make statements about becoming my friend and it was strings attached type money and when I didn't become their friend a funny thing happened their money ran out the door if I fear man I'll do whatever that man says to get that money but if I Fear God I will not dishonor [Music] God in an attempt to honor a human who wants honor in a very specific way which is actually dishonoring to God my daughter uh one of my favorite stories over this uh past season of keeping God in in the right place keeping man in the right place my daughter in a a public university uh was asked by a professor to write a paper on her stance on abortion the professor knew uh that she was a believer in Jesus knew her dad was a pastor and so of course I mean this is a a slippery slope most probably on purpose so the professor says Riley I want you to write a paper on abortion Riley calls me she's like Daddy uh this is a pretty liberal professor and I if I take the stand that I believe is the stand God is asking me to take um I'm pretty sure this professor is going to gonna bomb me and it may affect me for the rest of the semester I said babe this is one of those moments are you more afraid of an F from a professor or an A from the Lord she's like okay Daddy I knew thanks for confirming it she writes the paper sure enough she gets a an absolute roaring F on the paper I mean I think it was like a 24 it wasn't just like a a 58 it was like a 24 okay she had done well in the class to that point but it was a test it was a moment where she had to decide am I more afraid of what man can do to me or do I live in a more healthy fear of God and a fear of God remember isn't being afraid of how God will respond if I do the wrong thing fear of God says one of my greatest desires in my heart is to please God see the fear of God is part of why I want to please God when we have a healthy fear of God he has the highest place in our lives and when he has the highest place he is the one we want to please most and I was so proud of her to take the F baby I've never been more proud of enough from one of my children in in their lives than when Riley stuck to her conviction and wrote the paper that was in her heart that she knew would would be pleasing to God's heart okay we all have experiences like that we we're all put in tests moments of testing my question to you is who are you more afraid of fear of God might cost you from time to time but fear of man will ruin you all of the time this leads to my favorite question about the fear of God and this is how we'll kind of wrap up today's episode what are the benefits of the fear of God okay Preston so now I understand what the fear of God is but why should I live in the fear of God I don't have the time to walk you through an exhaustive list so I'm going to give you two of my favorites all right first first Sanctuary one of the greatest benefits of the fear of God is a safe Sanctuary Isaiah 8: 12-4 say Don't call everything a conspiracy like they do the people and don't live in dread of what frightens them one of the things being the fear of man make the Lord of Heaven's armies holy this is what what the fear of God looks like making God holy in your life remember when we talked about The Nearness of God before I read the rest of this verse my mind immediately goes to to those who draw near to me God says I must be regarded as holy another way to say it is it's going to be really it it in my opinion it's impossible to experience the Manifest presence of God not the Omni presence of God his omnipresence is him promising I'll never leave you or forsake you but then there is the Manifest presence of God it is impossible to experience the Manifest presence of God without the fear of God God says make the Lord of Heaven's armies holy in your life he's the one you should fear he's the one who should make you tremble watch this he will keep you safe the new King James says he will be as a sanctuary when we walk in the fear of God holding him in the rightful place in our lives he becomes a sanctuary to us here's here's the picture I get of the sanctuary it's the difference between choppy seas and the calm seas of a harbor that is completely protected what pleases one human will anger another human and and it creates these choppy Seas of relationship and and mindset and emotion and I've lived that way and there is no safety there there is nothing that feels safe when every person you turn to they want something different and you've got to you got to be different in order to please them and get their approval and and it's just an unsafe feeling and if you've ever felt it I know you're agreeing with me there's nothing safe it's completely unstable whereas when I Fear God more than I fear man he becomes my safe place when God becomes the one you fear most God becomes your most safe place a sanctuary it's one of the greatest benefits of the fear of God here's the second benefit from the fear of God that's going to make me move my shoulders and my head in the way that you all kind of say that I do Swagger one of the biggest benefits of the fear of God is a Divine Swagger Psalm 1 18 verse6 says the Lord is for me so I will have no fear what can mere people do to me this is such a swaggy verse the Lord is with he's present he's near because he's near I have no fear remember can't have the the Manifest presence of God without the fear of God the Lord is for me he's with me so I have no fear what can mere people do to me fear of man comes because you foolishly trust in man the fear of God comes because you completely trust in God and when we put our trust in God it just creates this swaggy effect where I just walk with the Divine Swagger when I put all my trust in him because I am clear that man cannot do anything near what God can do for me in me through me because of me in spite of me when I hold a healthy fear of God which completely eliminates my fear of man you can't help but walk around with swagger you do what Daniel did it's okay throw throw me into the lion stand no no problem but I'm not doing what you say because I don't fear you I don't fear these Lions I fear the God who created the Lions and he's with me and so I'll be fine I'm telling you this is one of my favorite things in the Bible I used to get in trouble for this because I I when I was playing basketball growing up I would get a little bit too swaggy you know what I'm saying and now we read through scripture we actually have to walk with spiritual Swagger and spiritual Swagger can only come with the healthy fear of God one of the benefits oh he becomes your safe place when you fear God and not man you don't worry about what man says you don't come out of the safe place to answer the emotional knock of mankind but then you also because the fear of God brings The Nearness of God that's going to bring the Swagger of man a healthy Swagger of man when all your trust is in God it is going to absolutely increase your Swagger as you follow after God that brings us to the last question and it's a short one how do you know you no longer struggle with the fear of man here's the answer this is one of my favorite lines in the entire episode you know you no longer struggle with the fear of man when you don't fear what man thinks of you can take from you or do to you and that is a man or woman which not only can God use it's a man or woman God will most definitely supernaturally use and the picture the lord gave me was Jonathan and his armor Bearer 1 Samuel 14 Jonathan wasn't afraid of the army of opposition and so Jonathan and a teenage boy climb the mountain and take on nearly two dozen two dozen Warriors in half an acre which means they were close there was no hiding as Jonathan feared God and not man Jonathan and that probably around 14-year-old child climbed the mountain took down the 20 in the Philistine Army and it created Panic God sends a panic among the entire opposing Army all because a man who feared God climbed a hill with no fear of man and God anointed him to take out his enemies you know you don't struggle with it anymore when you don't fear what man thinks of you you don't fear what man can take from you and you don't fear what man can do to you and that my friends is a man or woman God will most definitely supernaturally use well I want to pray over you as we wrap up our time together and I want you to know how much I enjoy even though I know there's some in the conversation but I just we are a people of the cut and I don't don't just mean this TLC Community God's people are a people of the cut our flesh must always be cut upon to make more room for his Spirit to move in us and through us and so I I feel a very strong burden to pray over my brothers and sisters who have felt Bound for whatever reason to the fear of man I want to pray over you all right and if you don't struggle with the fear of man here's what up don't turn off this part of the episode you made it this far all right it doesn't even matter if no one knows you're about to agree with me in prayer and pray out loud wherever you are but the god of the universe is watching how you as someone who's been set free from the snare the Trap of the fear of man God Is Watching how you step in to intercede on behalf of your brothers and sisters in Christ who are presently feeling bound to the fear of man and everything that comes with it so let's pray over our brothers and sisters the hottest prayer we know to pray Spirit of the Living God thank you for being the Sovereign one God you have all power in heaven and on Earth there is none above you there is no one who can do what you do and they never will be able to Lord I pray that wherever my brothers and sister SS are right now who are struggling with the fear of man and feeling bound stuck in that trap like a bear in a bear trap spirit of God I pray that you would tangibly visit them right now wherever they are whatever they're doing I pray you'd visit them in such a way where they have a holy moment where they find themselves just looking up and seeing how big how immeasurably huge you are and as they do I pray the Trap would open up and their leg would be removed from the Trap by your hand oh God would you right now do what they cannot do Lord for some this goes back to when they were four years old maybe even younger and the sweet little boy the sweet little girl just wanted to please the ones they love and without realizing it it created an ongoing bondage to the fear of [Music] man where the spirit of the Lord is there is freedom Holy Spirit would you set free every captive Jesus you came to set the captive free I pray for Liberty in Jesus name I pray for those who who are are have bought the LIE of the enemy that if they make one wrong step they're going to get fired if they don't do exactly what the person in authority over them says they're going to lose the best job they've ever had God I pray for such a Divine Swagger to come upon my brothers and sisters God you harden Pharaoh's heart so that Pharaoh would do exactly what you wanted him to do Lord because you are The Sovereign one there is no person in Authority who has more authority over them than you have over them and the rest of us God I pray for the strength of the spirit to come upon my brothers and sisters where in conviction and humility they can walk in strength no longer afraid of what man thinks of them what man can do to them what man can take from them what man says about them God would you set them free right now by the power of your spirit and God as they get up out of that trap I pray immediately they would experience a new measure of your nearness than they ever had have before I pray for Supernatural occurrences for the normaly of Heaven to invade the abnormality of the Earth the nearer you draw to them I pray the more strength they would walk in and the more fear of God they would hold on to God thank you for letting us draw near to you thank you for sending your son to die for us so that we could draw near to you via the blood of Jesus which is shed for us thank you for letting us draw near that was your part you sent your son to die but our part is to regard you as holy to live with a healthy fear of you to hold you in awe and respect none other the way we respect Revere and adore you thank you for Freedom father we thank you for you as we move forward may we do so feeling safe in your Sanctuary the sanctuary of your nearness leading to more Divine spiritual Swagger obeying you and all things at all times no matter what it costs I pray all these things in Jesus name amen amen I love you so much and I love that we get to sit together and do this together uh and I'm sure I don't tell you enough but I love you so much and my heart is to please God every time we sit down together but it's also in any way that I can be used by God to help you I just want to be a big brother whether you're older than me or younger than me I just want God to anoint me to be like that uh sweet I don't need to be the cool big brother I just want to be the sweet and helpful big brother that helps you step into fully being you and all God has for you I love you so much and I can't wait to see you next [Music] time thanks for joining me for this episode of The Leader cut I pray you sense God speak directly to you through it before you leave make sure you hit the Subscribe button and tap the Bell icon so you're notified every time a new episode is posted and be sure to share your takeaways and favorite onliners in the comments and if you think it could help a friend or two I'd love it if you would send them the link to share it with them thanks again for watching we'll see you next time

Channel: Pillar Church

Views: 10,093

Keywords: preston morrison, tim ross, pastor tim ross, pillar church, preston morrison sermons, the leaders cut, preston morrison the leaders cut, preston morrison fear, preston morrison prayer, robert morris, tim ross sermons, tim ross and preston morrison, fear of man, fear of god, leadership podcast, overcoming fear, what is the fear of the lord, what is the fear of god, preston morrison leaders cut, fear in bible, identity in christ, man's authority, how to be set free, freedom

Id: NatLPAQ9AwY

Length: 78min 17sec (4697 seconds)

Published: Thu Mar 28 2024