The Awe of God: How to TRULY Get Close to God [FULL SERMON] — John Bevere

we just had a wedding so finally all four of our sons are married quick picture it happened a couple months ago let's see if they're up there uh there they are and uh we for those of you that don't know we have four sons and now we have four daughter-in-laws can I tell you a quick story about our newest daughter-in-law her name's Maddie when I was uh 2007 I was preaching at the Hillsong conference in Sydney Australia there were 22 000 people there in between the sessions they called for two Americans to volunteer my son Alec at 15 years old runs up there they said we want you to sing The Star Spar Star Spangled Banner in the key of C his face went white then all of a sudden somebody started singing from behind the curtain in front of the 22 000 people he started Hamming it up my wife and I are laughing hysterically at our 15 year old son a woman from Fiji Taps my wife on the shoulder and she said that son will marry a daughter of Australia well we never told him until he told us that he would marry Maddie but Maddie is a daughter of Australia her parents are Pastors in Australia isn't that not amazing and then um we uh we had a new one since I've been with you la and that is Scarlett Scarlett I want to show you a picture of Scarlett look at those eyes she is looking right through your soul you better be careful with her all right she's going to be a fun one all right and then as the Azariah came two months ago and that's a little as if finally I got a boy who looks Italian in this family all right so anyway that is an Italian boy right there that's my family I deeply love my family and I will be honest with you in being in Ministry for four decades I used to be so enamored when somebody had 25 000 people in their Church you know it really really really touches my heart when I see a man of God who's been in the ministry for years a woman of God who's been in the ministry for years and their children love them and their children are serving God when I look at this family the way your two sons passionately serve God the way they honor you both I'm just so honored to be your friend thank you sir amen let's pray and let's listen to God tonight amen let's believe for him to speak to us father in the name of Jesus thank you for this church thank you for this renewal Services Lord God you promised that you would renew us when we would seek you with all of our hearts with all of our minds Soul bodies and strength father we are doing that we are laying things aside to come the things that are not necessary to come and hear the things that are necessary and so tonight holy spirit of God your presence is welcome in this building you're here already do what you love to do the most and that is glorify and honor Jesus in this place and as you do this may we go from glory to glory and from strength to strength for I decree that your kingdom has come your will shall be done in here in Panama City in Fort Walton Beach on this Earth as it is in heaven we declare this in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and we give you all the glory praise and thanksgiving and everybody that agrees shouts come on give him praise for what he's going to do tonight give him praise thank you Lord in Jesus name amen wow we might have heard Fort Walton on that one guys I want to open up I'm going to share with you something that Pastor Steve asked me to share with you on tonight um I've just finished a book it's going to be published February 21st I believe it's a life message I'm going to share a little bit out of it tonight but when you talk about renew everybody say renew I want to go to the scripture in the New Testament that will really speak to renew quicker than anything else and that is James 4 8. James makes this statement I want you to look at it carefully I know you read it before he said draw near to God and He will draw near to you let's say that when we draw near to God and he will draw near to you question who draws first we do there's something that we do we initiate that will literally cause the one who put the stars in the heavens with his fingers and called every one of them by name to come near me I don't know about you but that really excites me in essence what James is saying here is you not God are the one that determines the level of your relationship with him let me say it again you are the one that determines the level of your relationship with God not God in all my traveling for years and years I've met so many Believers that have this deep-seated notion they think that there are certain leaders that were born with like stars over their cribs right people like Billy Graham Mother Teresa no these people were these people are close to God because they chose to be in fact let me say this and my four Decades of ministry some of the people that walk closest to the Lord you're never going to see behind a Pulpit they're close because they've chosen to be close when I think about this I think about James saying in the fifth verse the spirit who dwells in you and I yearns jealously for us what I've really come to learn is that he's more passionate about being close to you than you are to him I mean when I think about this I think about what David says in Psalm 139 I think it's around the 17th verse he said Lord if I was to consider the thoughts that you have about me personally this is not the church collectively this is 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 I want you to stop and think about it you people here can really relate to this every beach every desert every Golf Course man now how many of you know you don't think about someone you don't want to be close to you know every year I discover stuff that I had that I didn't know I had because it's Christmas time and I go to the storage unit and there was stuff that I literally didn't think about for an entire year oh yeah that's right we do own that when you're not interested in something you don't think about it very much now scientists tell us that in one cubic foot of beach out there one cubic foot of Beach there are anywhere depending upon how tightly is packed between 500 000 and a million grains of sand now if I think about the person I'm the closest to Lisa and I add up all my thoughts that I've had about her in the last 40 years of marriage which we just celebrated last week down here by the way I wouldn't get a shoebox full and I'm doing better than most husbands because you know what a shoebox full of sand would be a thought every 12 seconds for 40 years provided I didn't go to sleep in those 40 years now how many of you know fishermen exaggerate come on repent now if that's you exaggeration's a lie let's just be honest how many of you know God can't lie if God was to ever exaggerate he would have to come under the submission to the father of lies and he'll never do it so when God says my thoughts about you outnumber every grain of sand that's on this planet do you know how much he's thinking about you that's why Jesus said your hairs are numbered he is a god Moses said to the children of Israel who is passionate about his relationship with you so here's the deal here's God who wants to be so close with us he passionately desires our fellowship why are so many Believers distant from him this is a question I had to face off with because the number one requests that come from Believers when I travel is how do I get closer well there's got to be a foundation in our life for us to be close with God and without this Foundation it doesn't matter how much God wants to be close to us and how much we want to be close to him it can't happen without this foundation and this Foundation can be found in a couple scriptures I'll give you a couple of them first of all in Leviticus the 10th chapter the third verse God makes or Moses makes a statement and he says by those who come near me now this is God speaking out of the mouth of Moses by those who come near me everybody say draw near by those who come near me I must be regarded as holy and before all the people I must be glorified you know there's there should be in scripture and then there's the must-spees you're wise to heed the should be you're a fool to ignore the must bees by those who come near me I must be regarded as holy how do we do this Psalm 89 verse 7 God look at this is to be greatly feared in the Assembly of the Saints and to be held in reverence by all those around him look at the second part of this verse God is to be held in reverence by all those who surround him let me make this statement you will never find God his manifest presence you will never find it in an atmosphere where he's unless he is held with the utmost of respect let me tell you when I first learned this back in 1997 it was January of 97. I was asked to the nation of Brazil to speak at a national conference I was so so excited because it was my first trip to Brazil I remember flying down there it was in capital city it was a National Conference people were coming from all over and I landed Friday morning prayed all afternoon and that night they drove me to the arena I remember before we even got to the packed out parking lot there were cars parked on the street for blocks away I remember pulling into that reserved spot when you get out you could hear the worship and the crowd from the outside of the building because in the Arenas down there they have about a six foot gap between the ceiling and the upper wall to create air ventilation and I could hear the worship that was going on in the inside I was so excited now back in those days let me tell you something they did something I'm so glad they stopped doing they sat us ministers on the on the platform okay so they they they ushered me in and put me right on the platform that's just so weird when you're worshiping God in front of everybody right I'm like let me sit in the front row but anyway so so um I I remember you know I'm on the platform I'm excited first time in Brazil the the place is the arena is jam-packed and the presence of God is nowhere now I'm talking about the Manifest presence of God not as omnipresence and I remember closing I I'm in shock I mean you would think just the energy in the room right with that many people and I I closed my eyes I said God where's your presence and I remember when I opened my eyes it was like I started seeing people and I saw people during the worship standing there like this looking around with their arms crossed and others had their hands in their pocket looking down there were people talking to one another some people were walking down the stairs of the arena and going out to the concession stands getting something to drink coming back I'm like this will stop so I go through the whole worship and then one of the leaders of this massive Church Network down there comes up and begins reading from the scripture and now because there's no music you can hear the little mutter of people whispering to each other talking to each other I'm like what is going on and now I'm I'm getting I'm getting quite upset and I hear the Holy Spirit say address this so they introduced me and I remember walking up and putting my right elbow on the podium my translator is right next to me because I'm sitting there going how do I get these people attention and I remember just going up and standing there and staring at him and I was saying a word now when you're the Friday night speaker of the National Conference in Brazil and you've been introduced and you're staying there staring at the people that will get their attention so after about 50 seconds the whole place goes quiet and every Eye Is On Me and when I knew every eye was on me these are the first words I ever spoke in the nation of Brazil I did not say hi it's nice to be here here's my family let me show you a picture I didn't do any of that I said this is the first words that came out of my mouth I have two questions question one you're talking to somebody sitting across the table and the whole time you're talking to them they got their hands in their pocket looking around they got their arms crossed looking down or they're whispering to somebody beside them would you continue to talk to them they said nothing so I answered it I said no because I'm a little angry right now what if every time you go to your neighbor's house this is question number two and you knock on the door and when they open the door they go oh it's you again and they turn around walking into the house I said will you continue to go no I said I have been in this Auditorium this Arena for over an hour and a half and there's not an ounce of the presence of God In This Place why because God will never come into a place where he's not held with the utmost respect I said if the president of your nation would have walked on this platform tonight you would have given him 10 times the respect you gave the Holy Spirit I said at Pele your greatest soccer player in the history of Brazil would have walked on this platform tonight you would have been on the edge of your seats anticipating every word I said you've given no respect to the spirit of God and for the next 75 minutes I preached him on the fear of the Lord after 75 minutes I said all right you're in here you say you're born again this is a believer's conference so you know they all said that we're Christians I said you say you're born again but you lack the fear of God and you're willing to repent stand up three-fourths of the Arena stands up as soon as they stand up the presence of God fills the arena and and people start crying and I'm like God we didn't even pray and I remember later him showing me that the father ran to the Prodigal Son before the prodigal son said any prayer of repentance and so the presence of God fills the place it's just wonderful people weeping and and I'm finally like finally right and it's so wonderful in the last three minutes and it lives and the Holy Spirit said lead him in a prayer repentance so I led him in a prayer repentance after the prayer repentance another wave comes of this presence and it's even stronger and now it's just beautiful it's just so amazing I hear sobbing all over the arena last three or four minutes it lifts the Lord said son I'm coming one more time now there's no way I can ever do this Justice but I want you to imagine standing in a forest and about a 25 mile an hour wind starts blowing through that Forest that kind of a violent whistling wind came blowing into that Arena when it did the people started screaming now can you imagine thousands of Latinos screaming how loud that is yet the wind was louder and I remember I am standing there right beside this pulpit and I am petrified in a good way I mean there look I know it sounds weird but there are like Goosebumps on top of my Boost Goosebumps there was such an authority that came into that Arena it was like Daddy didn't come in the king came in and I remember I am standing there and all that's coming out of my mouth is oh my God oh my God and I remember the thought goes through my mind John bevere you say one wrong word you make one wrong move you're dead now would that have happened I don't know it did with a couple in the New Testament when they brought an offering and they were more concerned about people perceiving that they were giving sacrificially and they fell over debt in that kind of an atmosphere because Peter walks out of that atmosphere and walks down the streets of Jerusalem and everybody's sick gets up that's like Pastor Steve walking through one of the hospitals here and emptying the hospital that kind of authority was in that room he's not only dad he's called the consuming fire he's not only dead he's called The King and he came in and I'm standing there and I'd never encountered anything like this in my life and I'm sitting there going oh my God oh my God and and this wind blows for 90 seconds it gradually subsides it leads in its wake people collapse over the seats in front of them people weeping and I'm standing there I'm like God what do I do what do I do and Lord's like I'm through with you so I looked at the leader I said it's all yours so they they whisked me out to the car and they put me in the car and then he put the national solo singer that night there was a soloist he's a female very very well known in Brazil and her husband she gets in the car she goes did you hear the wind did you hear the wind and I said maybe he was a jet aircraft that flew over the building right oh my gosh did she get mad at me what are you talking all around the building and right now I was like oh yeah yeah these Brazilians are passionate so her husband quiets her down because he's a little calmer man he goes sir that was an airplane I said how do you know he said because there were security men and policemen all around the outside they're Union men most of them aren't even saved they're around the outside of the building when the wind started blowing they came running in and said to our leaders what in the world's going on he said secondly I I was at the main sound board because I'm making sure my wife's volumes are right for her singing he said the decimal meters were at zero the whole time the wind blew he said John not one ounce of that sound came through our sound system to my God take me in my hotel room I remember just sitting on my balcony till 1 30 morning worshiping see you want you want to see New Testament on this the book of Hebrews says therefore since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken let us have Grace by which we may serve God acceptably how do we serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear for our God is a consuming fire I'll never forget Saturday morning I walk into that building and the Miracles that happen the salvations that occurred was mind-blowing all because of one thing presence all because of holy fear we had reports on this for as many as 23 years 22 years later 2016 I go down to speak to goyani of Brazil to 12 000 pastors and leaders I get out of the car the first Pastor I mean he says I was in the building 20 years ago when the wind blew my life has never been the same since when that kind of a presence comes you change there's no other way of saying it I was in the nation of Malaysia two years later similar situation you say John does this happen a lot I wish I could say yes but basically in my 40 years about a handful of times same thing occurred it was a national meeting and I remember that presence came in and I I I remember again I'm thinking bever don't you do one thing don't do one thing irreverent or you're dead and I'm thinking that and I remember I'm walking back and forth going oh my God oh my God same thing again and I remember my mouth said something that my ears heard for the first time in my life but I'm walking back and forth and out of my mouth comes this this is the spirit of the fear of the Lord and my head all of a sudden kicked and I went oh my gosh that's right that's one of the seven manifestations of the Holy Spirit see Isaiah prophesied about Jesus he said look at this he said the spirit the spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Jesus the spirit of wisdom and the spirit of understanding the spirit of counsel and the spirit of Might the spirit of knowledge and the spirit of the fear of the Lord now look at this his Delight are you seeing this his Delight was in the fear of the Lord shouldn't Jesus is the light be our Delight let me try that again shouldn't his Delight be our Delight you know Jim talked about last night about Elijah let me put a PS on Jim's message last night because it was profound I shared with my whole staff on Zoom today all 50 of them they all got so fired up when I preached Jim's message they did I'm not kidding they got so fired up I was so in awe last night it was like father in the church stood up and gave orders it was so beautiful last night so anyway uh where was I going with this um I shared it with my staff today oh yeah this is a PS on Jim's message thanks have you ever read in Hebrews in the days of his flesh he had vehemented cries and tears for the one who could save him and what does the Bible say about Jesus and he was heard because of his Godly fear it's one thing to pray it's another thing to be heard it's one thing to draw near it's another thing for him to draw near still with me I remember I'm walking out of this Malaysia Auditorium and Pastor was so wise I was so related and say oh let's do a song he got up at the end of that one because that one lasts about 10 minutes and he said y'all there's such a heavy presence of God here just leave whenever you want we're done as far as the service goes but God's not and I remember after a while I felt okay I can leave and I'm walking out and there's this because it was the largest Bible School in Malaysia there were pastors from all over the nation that had come and I remember there was this Indian couple they were in the bible school and I'm walking out and we're just looking at each other and we have nothing to say because when you're in that atmosphere you're like don't say something stupid so I'm just looking at them they're looking at me and then she opens her mouth and she said I feel so clean I went that's it that's it now I didn't respond like that I went inside that's it that's it that's it that's what I felt in Brazil That's what I felt in North Carolina that's what I feel here so I go back to my hotel next morning I'm getting ready to play basketball with the guys in Malaysia right and I'm putting my gym shorts on and holy spirit speaks to me and said Son read Psalm 19. I'm like okay I don't know what I'm going to read in Psalm 19 but I just know do it so I go over get my Bible with my you know ready to go play basketball but I I you know I'm I'm gonna do this right so I I start reading verse 1 verse two verse three I guess at verse 9 and look what I read fear of the Lord is clean enduring forever Holy Spirit spoke to me in that room he said Son Lucifer LED worship right before my Throne beheld my glory was anointed to do so it was good worship tonight but can you imagine being anointed in a building that seats of over a billion beings and you're the worship leader standing in front of the glory of God leading heaven God said he was he led worship right before the presence of my glory he didn't fear me he didn't endure forever he said Son a third of my angels surrounded my throne they beheld my glory they didn't fear me they didn't endure forever he said Son Adam and Eve Walked In the Garden in the presence of my glory they didn't fear me they didn't endure forever he said Son every created being that surrounds my Throne throughout eternity will have been tested in the Holy fear of God then I started thinking this and I don't know if it was the Holy Spirit to me how many pastors started the ministry so excited so in love with Jesus that they didn't endure forever Paul the Apostle makes this statement in second Thessalonians 2 3 this one's really bugging me folks the day of Jesus's return will not come except the apostasy comes first unless the predicted great Falling Away of those who have professed to be Christians has come why why did a study between 2000 and 2020. one of his biggest studies he's done he studied 20 years and you know what he discovered over 20 million American practicing Christians in that 20 years are now non-christians many of them professing to be agnostics and atheists 20 million that's more than five percent of America's population that means one out of every 20 people between 2000 and 2020 walked away from the faith Paul said it had to happen why is it happening because of the lack of holy fear Paul the Apostle makes this statement in Philippians the second chapter the 12th and 13th verse he said work out your salvation with fear and trembling not loving kindness I'll never forget 1994. I I didn't really understand the fear of the Lord I was starting to study it I thought you know what this this occurs too much in the Bible to ignore it's in the New Testament all over the place and my assistant gets a call in 1994. Jim Baker who at that time was probably one of the most famous men on the planet but for the wrong reasons he was on CNN he committed mail fraud had the largest Ministry in the world and he was sentenced to 45 years it was reduced to five years in the fourth year of his sentence he called his assistant he read the first book that I wrote called victory in the wilderness and he said to us assistant can you call this man and see if he'll come visit me I said sure I'll go visit him so I go in I remember I'm in the penitentiary Jim comes in he's got his prison garban he looks at me grabs my shoulder and said young man did you write this book I said yes sir I did he said not a Ghostwriter I said no not a Ghostwriter he said we have so much to talk about and we only have 90 minutes he sits down he looks at me you know what the first thing he says to me is John this prison wasn't God's judgment on my life it was his Mercy I went what he said John if I would have kept living the way I was living I would have ended up in Hell forever and ever I'm so grateful to God they told me how he was delivered the first year he told me how they had a church in the prison and and that they go through the the Gospel of Jesus they go the sentence of Jesus then they go five words three words one word three words five words I'm just going through this whole damn like well you're late in this this church in the prison right he goes oh no I'm a master manipulator I'm not touching it somebody else is leading it John if I ever go back to living the way I was living I'm I'm done forever I mean I'm sitting there going whoa so 20 minutes into it I look at Jim and I say Jim when did you fall out of love with Jesus when at what point did you fall out of love with Jesus he looked at me and he said I didn't and he's so serious when he said he said I didn't I said not now I'm mad because I don't know this man I just met him for the first time that day now I'm mad at him again because I was well anyway and now he's like I love this man so much and I said Jim you mitted adultery with Jessica Hahn in 1983. you were arrested and prosecuted in 1990. you're telling me those seven years you didn't love Jesus he said I loved him all the way through it John and Fusion in my face and he looks at me and says I didn't fear God what he said I love Jesus I didn't fear God he said there's millions of American Christians just like me they love Jesus they don't fear God so what is the fear of the Lord what is it first of all it is not to be scared of God how can you have a relationship of intimacy with somebody you're scared of you know when Moses delivers Israel out of Egypt where does he bring them not to the promised land he brings them to the place that he met with God where the Bush was it's called cyanide remember he said to Pharaoh like five times thus saith the Lord let my people go that might worship me in the desert why does he want to bring him to a promised land before he first brings him to the promiser and when he brings them to that mountain he has a private meeting with God and God says to Moses in Exodus like 19 2 and 3 he says Hey Moses you just go down and tell all those people the whole reason I deliver them from Egypt was to bring them to myself I can't wait they're my kids so three days later God comes down on the mountain when he cut does they all scream and run away because they got too much of the world in it and they scream and run away and they say Moses Moses you talk with God tell us whatever he says we're going to do it we can't handle them and Moses makes this statement to them in Exodus 20 20 that I believe is a 20 20 Vision look what Moses said he said do not fear for God has come to test you what's the test that his fear may be before you so that you may not sin wait a minute look up at me do not fear because God's come to test you what's the test see if his fear is in you he's talking about both sides of his mouth he's contradicting himself no he's not he is differentiating between being scared of God and the fear of the Lord there's a difference the person that's scared of God has something to hide what does what does Adam do as soon as he disobeys God he hides from the presence of of the Lord the person who fears God has nothing to hide he or she is terrified of being away from God so if you want your first definition of the fear of the Lord you ready write it down this is what it is it is to be not scared it is to be terrified of being away from God good preaching I'll help some of you right now that was a really good place to say Amen right there it's being terrified of being away from him still with me so when you fear God you venerate him I know that's a big word let me let me break it down to honor to respect you esteem you value you reverence and you stand in awe of him more than anything or anyone else when you do you firmly Embrace God's heart and that means we love what he loves and we hate what he hates notice it doesn't say we dislike what he hates now let's just get rid of the religious spirit okay yeah man I Fear God that's why I hate them Sinners over there you don't fear God at all because you hate what he loves he loves them enough to die for them don't tell me you fear God don't insult the fear of the Lord like that you hate what he hates you know what God hates hates the sin that undoes them and makes them because he loves them still with me you know back in the 1990s I was praying two hours every single morning not kidding and then I come home and read my Bible I'd go outside to a deserted place a construction place and I pray from five to seven every morning and you know what when I preach my words I was so fed up I was like God I spent so much time in prayer where's the power where's the anointing and the Holy Spirit spoke to me he said I'll never forget I was frustrated I went why is it isn't there strong or anointing on my life and he said to me because you tolerate sin not only in your life but in the lives of others he said read Hebrews one so you know Hebrews 1 is where God the father inaugurates Jesus as king of the universe look what he says look what he says to Jesus this is amazing he says because you have loved righteousness stop right there every Christian America loves righteousness that's what Jim Baker was saying because you have loved righteousness but he didn't stop there and hated lawlessness therefore God even your God is Anointed you mourn your companions Holy Spirit said to me learn to hate sin the way I hate sin you'll see the anointing increase upon your life why don't our prayers have power why don't we preach with power why don't we walk in power because we tolerate sin we've allowed Society the fear of man to overcome us sure is quiet right now so what is the Manifest what is its manifestation do you understand what I'm saying by what is the manifestation does everybody understand okay I'll see right I'm talking to you Panama City and to you Fort Walton Beach what's in other words like if if I take a knife and I put in a wall socket over there and you're not doing my funeral three days from now that means there is no power in that outlet right but if you're doing my funeral that means there is power in the outlet so what is the evidence of somebody who truly fears God five areas number one they obey God instantly oh number two they obey him even when it doesn't make sense God ever tell you to do something he didn't make sense number three they obey him even if it hurts number four they obey him even if they don't see a benefit number five they obey him to completion comes down to obedience is the manifestation of somebody who fears God now I'm going to show you my favorite scripture and try to wrap it up here in the next 15 minutes Psalm 25 verse 14. one of my favorite scriptures in the Bible 25 14 The Secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him and he'll show them his Covenant everybody say the secret that word actually means Secrets the secrets of the Lord are with those who fear Him how many of you have the secrets let me see your show of hands put up your hands really high all right do I pray for the rest of you for lying now or later sir how many of you know all secrets are not bad so now how many of you have secrets everybody's gonna raise their hand okay who do you share your secrets with acquaintances or intimate close friends intimate close friends God's no different God says I share my secrets with my intimate close friends and by the way my intimate close friends are those who fear me now I'm going to show you I'm not taking this verse out of context look at it out of the New Living Translation friendship with the Lord is reserved for those who fear Him with them he shares the secrets God is not everybody's friend get a little more specific good church now there are two men that are called the friends of God in the Old Testament where there are others oh you better believe it David's a friend of God Esther's a friend of God you know I could go on and on and on Joseph Daniel but these two men's lives exemplify what it takes to have a relationship of Friendship with the Lord who's the first one who is the first one Abraham right why is Abraham called the friend of God because when Abraham is old God comes to him one night and says Abe yes Lord yes yes Abe you know your son who you waited for for 25 years that I gave to you the one you love more than anything or anyone else I want you to go on a three-day journey and kill him for me foreign okay we read this story we know what happens he didn't can you imagine the sleepless night but do you know what the Bible says early the next morning Abraham's on the way you have people say well you know the Lord's been dealing with me about this now for three months ha ha oh my gosh you're bragging about your lack of holy fear you you come on come on now God gives them a three-day Journey why it's easier when you heard the booming voice of God the night before but we're about two and a half days later when you haven't heard one word from heaven and you look in the mountain you're going to put the most important person or thing to death in your life just because God said do it and didn't give you a reason Abraham goes up there can you imagine the emotions He is building this altar he is hoping for some kind of sign to get out of this he ties up Isaac who he loves so much he 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 right when he's ready to run it through Isaac an angel appears and says Abraham stop because now I know you fear God oh whoa whoa whoa whoa how does the angel know that he fears God because he obeyed God instantly because he obeyed God when it didn't make sense because he obeyed God when it hurt because he obeyed God when he didn't see a benefit and because he obeyed God to completion Abraham puts down the knife unties Isaac lifts his eyes there's a ramp and out of his Spirit comes Jehovah Jireh the Lord who sees do you understand God just revealed a facet of his personality to Abraham nobody had ever known before because he's my friend okay you're not getting this okay all of you all of you know me as John bevere preacher some of you know me as John bevere author but there is a lady and whoa she's a lady she knows me as John the beer best friend she knows me as job of your husband job of your father John bevere G daddy she knows me as John bevere athlete she knows me as John bevere Lover now can I say this none of you will ever know me as John bevere lover that is a facet of my personality as a reserved for the person who's most closest to me on this Earth amen God just revealed a facet of his personality to Abraham nobody's ever known before because he's my friend now look at the relationship between God and Abraham it's amazing one day the Lord says should we do what we're planning on doing to Sodom and Gomorrah without first talking to our friend Abraham so the Lord comes down terrible trees they have a meal the Angels go off and Abraham and God walk over the cliff and God looks at 8 and goes hey we're thinking about blowing up these two cities what do you think ape Coast what do you think Abraham goes think think my nephew's over there my nephew's over there oh my gosh think think think okay God you wouldn't like blow up the cities if there were 50 righteous people would you wouldn't judge the righteous with the unrighteous would you and the Lord goes excellent idea excellent idea okay we will not blood the cities if there's 50 righteous people glad we talked to our friend Abraham Abraham goes with losing 50. okay God wait a minute whoa whoa be five the Lord goes another good idea okay we will not blow up the city since there's 45 glad we talked to our friend Abraham Abraham goes 40 30 20 10. he figures there's got to be ten Lots one all I need is nine others there's not even ten now listen to what the Bible's saying listen listen listen the people of Sodom are buying selling marrying giving and marriage planting harvesting what is what is that in today's vernacular the economy is life is good and if there is a God he doesn't mind a lifestyle they're 24 hours away from being obliterated and they're Clueless that's not what's scary can I show you what's scary lot everybody say lot who the Bible calls righteous okay I'll put it in today's term II Peter chapter one it's called righteous okay saved born again he's 24 hours away from being obliterated and he he's as clueless as Sodom and Gomorrah it takes two angels of Mercy two messengers of Mercy because Abraham prayed thank God Abraham prayed to get him out so here's two righteous men two save men two Born Again men I'm gonna put in today's vernacular one right to say born a man again man knows what God's going to do before he does it helps God decide how he's going to do it the other righteous say born again man is as clueless as the world why because this righteous say born again man fears God therefore God shares his secrets with him this righteous say born again man does not fear God he's Only Knows God by how he answers his prayers see if you look at Moses he's the other one God said I trust Moses he's my friend I speak to him face to face like a man speaks to his friend the Bible says that Israel knew his acts Moses knew his ways what does it mean Israel knew God by his acts Israel Knew by God how God excuse me Israel knew God by how he answered their prayers on the other hand Moses knew many times what God was going to do before he did it and he did it and even helped God decide how to do it and twice he changed God's mind the Bible says the Lord relented because of what Moses said to him so here's two righteous groups of people remember coming out of Egypt is a type of being saved they ate the same spiritual food they drank the same spiritual Rock and that rock was Christ one righteous man knows what God's going to do before he does it and helps God decide how he's going to do it often and even changes God's mind the other group Only Knows God by how he answers their prayers you know how many people I mean in relationship to God is limited well you know we prayed once and God healed our daughter okay and he's okay with this and this and this and this and you're going what God are you talking about what Jesus are you talking about see Paul said to the Corinthian Church you put up with what any anybody tells you even if they preach a different Jesus he didn't say a different God a different Jesus Jesus is invisible we can make up our Jesus however we want and my Jesus is okay with me sleeping with my girlfriend it's not the Jesus at the right hand you made up of Jesus you have no fear of God but I love God how can you love someone you don't know you're like the fan of Michael Jordan when you meet him on the street he's not even going to acknowledge you I don't know who are you you know there's a multitude of people going to say Jesus You're My Lord I don't know you who are you apart from me you want to see it in the New Testament and I'll close you want to see it in the New Testament Jesus is with the eleven Judas is already gone and look what he says the 11 no longer do I call you servants whoa whoa stop right there the fact that he says that means at what time they were looked at and merely regarded as servants that is not a revelation that's an English lesson now why does God do that why does God keep us even though we're heirs at a level of a servant to protect us because he loves us so much he doesn't want what happened to ananias and Sapphire to happen to us okay I'm going to give you an example it's weak but it works Lisa and I work for two very large Ministries one at 150 paid employees the other one had 450. when we were launched to start messenger International in 1990 we said we are going to have a new style of leadership we're going to be every this is mine I'm going to be every employee's best buddy some of you already know the stupidity so the first guy we hire his name is John best buddy we're playing basketball we're watching videos he's hanging out at the house he has dinner with us like every other night best buddy he was really good for the first year until I had to bring some minor correction to him I remember sitting him down I said John look when you're at our resource table and people come up you got this look on your face like bug off these are God sheep you need to be kind you have a smile on your he looks across the desert and goes you're this and you're that and you're this and starts railing on me and I'm like whoa I said God what do I do and the Holy Spirit said fire him so I let him completely vent I let him completely vent and I said John I got to release you I'm sorry you can't work for us anymore so he storms out right he's mad I start crying because I really cared about the guy God speaks to me and says he'll be back and he'll be twice as faithful three months later I get a call from haven't heard from the three months he said John God's spoken to me like he's never spoken to me in my life he said I took you and Lisa for granted I lost sight of the place God had put you in my life I lost side of the place God to put me in your life I'm so sorry will you forgive me I said yeah we talked a few more minutes I said will you come work for us again he said yeah I'd love to he came back we never had problems in that area again now today we've got 50 employees here in the United States and then we've got a thousand team members around the world I have a new policy I will not open up and share the intimate details of my life with any of my employees until I know they're very established in who I am in their life and I'm very some of my employees are my best friends but I won't bring them in like that until I know their various steps because I almost destroyed that young man now why does God do this with us because the Bible says as long as the error is a child he differs nothing from the servant Galatians 4 1 why does God do this because God says until you are very established in who I am and very established in who you are before me the fear of the Lord I got to keep you at a servant level because I don't want what happened to ananias and Sapphire to happen to you but when you are established in the Holy fear of God then I can bring you in as one of my intimate close friends Look what Jesus says in our clothes no longer do I call you servants for a servant doesn't know what his master is doing the Master's ways the secret is wisdom but I have called you friends now look at he makes a statement to the entire church look at verse 14. you are my friends stop right there we sing songs about it we preach sermons but we never finish the statement if is a condition if I say to you I will pay you two thousand dollars if you work for me 40 hours and you don't work the 40 hours and then you say where's the money I say hey Matt I said if you worked the 40 hours you didn't fulfill the condition friendship with Jesus is conditional not salvation it's a gift salvation is a gift we are talking about intimate friendship Jesus said you are my friends if what's the condition Jesus if you do whatever I command you there it is the fear of the Lord trembling at his word well I just think the Bible was written two thousand years ago and you know they didn't understand that ninety percent of people for to get married they lived together you have no fear of God you have none and you're not doing what he's commanding you because you put conditions on you put what Society has said on that condition and so don't even tell me he's your Lord because Jesus said why do you call me Lord yet you don't do what I say all right you know what Jesus is saying here not everybody in the church is my intimate close friend but now listen listen I want you all look at me because I want to end on high definitely wants to be everyone's intimate close friend but whoa whoa whoa but you're the one that determines the level of your relationship with God not God therefore draw near to God and He will draw near to you amen amen I want every head bowed every High flows every head bowed every eye closed father in Jesus name and I'm speaking to Fort Walton I'm speaking to Panama City Beach I want you to close your eyes I want you to just bow your head I want you this to be you and God your spouse may be sitting next to you just right now just just just don't even hold hands just just right now just you go right there with Jesus you can never ever experience a relationship with your creator an authentic relationship without the holy fear of God and let me show you where it first shows up it's it's called salvation Paul said to you Jews and to everyone who fears God this message of Salvation has come I think one of the things has kept people from coming into an intimate relationship with Jesus is the way we do altar calls we just say you want to become a child of God just pray this prayer Jesus Come into my life now the Apostle Paul made a statement he said a man shall leave his father and mother be joined to his wife the two shall be one and he said but this is an illustration of the way the church and Jesus are won Jesus called the groom we're called The Bride hey when a girl gets married on the day that she marries she walks down that church with a white dress on she's making a pretty bold statement she's saying goodbye to about 3.9 billion guys he's saying this is the one and only man I'm giving my entire heart to the only way you can enter into an authentic relationship is when you give him everything he is not coming back for a bride that has given herself half-heartedly to him he's coming back for a bride that has given herself to him the way he gave himself to her and when I think about it my Creator come into this Earth knowing he's going to be shamed and Dishonored spit on Beat punched in the face having his beard plucked out Thorns jammed into a skull my Creator who created everything knows this is going to happen he knows he's going to get his flesh ripped off his back by the whip with broken bones and metal objects he knows he's going to get nails driven right into his hands and feet did it because he loved you that's how much he loved you your creator innocent [Music] coming back for a bride and sleeping with the world I wanna I don't want you to be deceived I don't want you to be one of the multitudes that call him Lord and he's going to say I don't know who you are who are you [Music] some of you are sitting here in all of these campuses all three and you know you know you know right now because the holy spirit is being gracious to you because listen a lot of people prayed for you but tonight you know you haven't given your entire heart and Life to him you know it have you done what that bride does on that wedding day broken up with every boyfriend and made a decision I'm not going to enter into anything else it means you break up with everything Jesus died for and you make no allowance to enter back into relationship with it and you're sitting there and you say I know I haven't given him my entire heart and I want to do it right now I want to do it right now John if that's you I want you to stand up right where you're sitting stand up right now right right now just stand up quickly no Brides ever been ashamed of her groom all over this Auditorium there's there's probably 80 people standing to their feet just keep standing that's you in in Fort Walton Beach in Panama City Beach just just stand your feet if that's you yes ma'am you're worth the wait thank you yes ma'am thank you anybody else I want to make sure there's nobody missing yes sir thank you you are well worth the wait sir anybody else I want to make sure nobody's missed anyone else now if you're sitting down and you'd say John I have given Jesus my life but I'm not walking in the fear of the Lord I can see how that's bled into my life and I want this holy fear what Jesus delighted in I want it in my life if that's you you say I've not been walking in the fear of the Lord and I want that in my life I want you to stand up with these people right now immediately stand him quickly talk about renewal talk about renewal so proud to be called a member of this church I know it's probably the same in Panama City Beach probably looking at 95 percent of you standing up here it's probably the same in Fort Walton I want you to just lift your hands up right there I'm not going to call you forward there's just too too many slip your hands up I want you to forget about the person beside you I want you to close your physical eyes and I want you to Open the Eyes of your heart and I want you to look at him I'm going to ask the Holy Spirit to give you a glimpse the spirit of God I'm asking you sir please show them Jesus please show us Jesus just Open the Eyes of your heart you see his eyes do you see his face I'm going to tell you what I see I see a massive smile a joyful smile [Music] I see eyes that are delighted so filled with love and so focused see his eyes his arms are outstretched thank you for your presence he's here [Music] holy spirit thank you that's his presence right there master [Music] sir we honor you [Music] we honor you [Music] there's his presence say this with me say speak to the one you're looking at dear Lord I love you so much say it out loud I love you so much forgive me for living a life my way for only obeying you when it was convenient when it didn't interfere with my schedule my pleasure my agenda so sorry and I Repent tonight and I Turn to You I give you my spirit my soul and my body everything I am everything I have I'm yours forever Jesus you are my Lord my king my beloved my groom [Music] I'm yours forever I want to be your friend I want to know your heart I want to know your secrets [Music] give me the grace the holy fear to walk in obedience now lift your hands up high I want to pray that God the Father will baptize you in the Holy Spirit of the fear of the Lord [Music] I want you to just receive Heavenly Father no no you can just receive now Heavenly Father foreign you'd give your spirit to your children these are your children your beloved they love you deeply [Music] give us the gift the treasure of holy fear baptize us with the Holy Spirit of the fear of the Lord [Music] fill us to where we overflow to where it's a fountain of wisdom a fountain of insight [Music]

Channel: John Bevere

Views: 590,782

Keywords: john bevere, john bevere sermons, close to god, christianity, fear of the lord, john bevere holy spirit, john bevere marriage, john bevere good or god, john bevere undercover, john bevere eternity, john bevere fear of the lord, praise, purpose, john bevere study, john bevere curriculum, religion, bible, calling, john bevere god where are you, know your purpose, john bevere faithfulness, prayer, god, how to know your purpose, driven by eternity, jesus, faith, christian, your destiny

Id: 24d6y34tF9k

Length: 61min 32sec (3692 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 27 2023