Walking in Fear
Short and Pointed Sermon #11925
Walking in Fear
Job 28:28
28 And unto man he said, Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
and to depart from evil is understanding.
Fear can be defined in 2 totally different ways. One definition is a feeling of horror, anguish. Being scared or deeply troubled. It can be as small as a mere reluctance that keeps you from doing or going or being. Or it can be as great as a consuming fire. A fear that destroys you and everything around you. A fear that freezes you into inaction or drives you into hiding physically and or psychologically.
Fear can also be defined as total reverence. Being in awe of a greater power. However, in this definition it cannot be a lesser fear because only a little reverence or awe for a greater power is to belittle or bring that power down to you. Being in total fear or reverence can only be to look up to that power and respect that power in all ways.
Now this brings us to envision who these 2 completely different definitions represent.
Well as Christians we know from the Bible that God is to be reverenced or feared and He is not the author of fear.
Satan is the author of what scares men to do everything but run to God. The fear that Satan promotes makes men greedy and selfish and arrogant. Leads them to be power hungry liars who fear being anything other than what their minds tell them they need to be to survive and be better than and be richer and more successful. Satan’s fear also works to make men weak and cowardly. Holding them down and chained to lives that will never glorify God. It is fear that keeps men bowing to Satan. Fear from Satan is a lie intended to keep men from the holiness and righteousness of God. It comes in all degrees to do its work. A little fear is as damaging as overwhelming fear because it’s purpose and eventual outcome are the same. It keeps people from God or keeps them from serving God. Everything Satan does is to belittle God.
However---
The fear of the Lord is being so awe struck one can only think of how great God really is. It is living a life of holiness in the righteousness of Jesus Christ. It is desiring all of Gods children to grow and prosper and be filled with the presence of God by His Spirit in them. It is a fear that protects and lifts one above the lies of Satan.
Psalms 27:1
1 The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?
the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
The fear of the Lord is knowing the awesome power of God. It is knowing what God has done. It is knowing God is the creator of all things. It is knowing when His hand is for you it is against all who are against you. When God is loved and honored and revered and served by someone it becomes clear to them the awesome infinite power of His love is far greater than anything that can come against them.
Think about it, Folks! John 3:16 For God so loved the world---
God loves everything He has created! Sometimes we get lost in the whole creation thing in Genesis. We look at creation as something that happened eons ago. But we are just as much Gods creation here and now as the first fish and the first bird and the first man and woman. How?
Because God created all living things to reproduce their own kind.
We are still Gods creation in continuum.
When we stop to think about how great God is to have created all living things to recreate themselves it adds an even greater understanding of the power of God. A power that is unsurpassed by anything He has created including the angels. Yes, including Satan. God gave Satan pride and arrogance and self-righteousness for a reason. Satan is no surprise to God! He created him for a purpose and that purpose is being fulfilled in men today.
To fear God is to know how great He is and how great His love is for you. It is to live in awe and respect of Him. It is to know His love for you is as great as His hatred for sin.
So, for a Christian the fear of the Lord is not being afraid of Him, it is fearing sinning against Him. It is viewing sin with the same distain as He does and it is always looking, working and striving to live without sin in your life for God. That means living above this world because this world is dying to serve Satan.
Satan instills fear in men so they believe they must do everything and have everything before they die. It’s like living on credit. Get everything now, pay for it later. But sinners don’t care about later because they live for the present. They fear dying without having everything they ever wanted. They fear not being noticed and praised and glorified by men. They fear being caught in their sinful deeds and behaviors, yet they fear not having what they want now. 1 John 2:16
16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world.
The fear of the Lord is the save now spend forever plan. It may seem to sinners that true Christians go without the joys of life but that is false. Living for God in fear of sinning against His Word brings all the joy and pleasures that this world cannot see or know.
Philippians 3:7-8
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
The life of joy in Christ Jesus can hardly be described. The blessings that are poured out on true believers and disciples of Jesus are beyond counting because Romans 8:28
28 And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.
Your purpose is to Glorify God and the only way that happens is when you walk in fear. When you reverence His presence for you, in you and through you. Proverbs 3:5-6
5 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart;
and lean not unto thine own understanding.
6 In all thy ways acknowledge him,
and he shall direct thy paths.
Trusting God is placing yourself in His hands. Then you will be leaving your worldly fears behind. Praising God for the love He has shown in and through His Son Jesus and the will He has for you to live in His love.
It is His paths that we can walk in with confidence. It is His ways that remove the fears that consume the lost and sinfully defiant. It is His light that shines before us so we do not stumble and can see where He wants us to go and what He wants us to do and be all in His strength and provision for His Glory. And that never ends for the Christian who fears God, who bows before Him in total reverence and awe.
Without the joy of the presence of Christ Jesus in your heart there is only one thing you will ever know. The fear that Satan rules you with!
Nothing Satan has to offer will ever come close to the love of God for you through His Son Jesus. Stop being afraid and rise in reverence!
On your knees is where God will begin to lift you. Ask Jesus to be your Lord and savior today!
Pastor Steven Freede
Down Home Preaching Ministry
Short and Pointed/ Walking in Fear
Sermon #11925
Short and Pointed
Short and Pointed
The Liar and the Listener
Exodus 23:1-2
1 Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
2 Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment:
The Liar and the Listener went all about the town.
The Liar told her stories just to tear her victim down.
And the Listener stooped with willing ears
--- as she stood on Holy ground.
The Liar claimed to know of things that no one else had seen.
The Liar claimed her righteousness to present herself as clean.
The Listener is one, who wants to hear the Liars tale
of how the victim did her wrong and why he was so mean.
The Liar does not want the world to ever know the truth.
The facts of all the sin she tells are taken from her roof.
The Listener is blind in lust, to hear of more and more.
She hears the same from other friends and claims it all as proof.
The Liar counts on numbers, to gain the upper hand.
The Liar needs the Listener to spread across the land.
The Listener begins to follow, doing all the same
The victim never says a word, not bowing to their game.
"Repeat the lie tell all you can, this sinner he must pay.
Believe the lie, it makes no sense but keep it anyway.
Be witness to the lie, you've heard it many times.
Believe as if I had the proof;" so eager will she say.
The Liar is a friend of hers, the victim he is not
The Listener adds her spices to the ever-smoldering pot.
The victim dawns his armor, being charged from every side,
"Oh, tell me Lord please tell me Lord, when will they be caught."
Three souls arrive at heaven’s gate, Saint Peter signs them in.
Then ushered to the judgment room, court will soon begin.
The Liar and the Listener will soon be thrown out,
Their names were for the lives they lived, it's what they're all about.
The victims' tears become his joy; his sorrows washed today.
The Liar cast a hate filled glance as she was dragged away.
The Listener was judged far worse, by claiming Holy ground.
The righteousness they claimed as theirs was never to be found.
The Liar spoke the words that Satan had to say.
The Listener believed the lie and spread it every day.
Together they will walk the trail that leads to dark demise
While the victim rests in Jesus' arms, his armor set aside.
Short and Pointed
The Liar and the Listener
Pastor Steven Freede
Down Home Preaching Ministry
Original Post date 4/8/18
Short and Pointed
A Great Falling Away or God Building His House
After having taken a break from writing and preaching to study and pray and wait for God to show me where He needs me and what He needs me to do, I have been given a very clear view of the condition of the church. I had grown quite disgruntled with many of the local churches and denominations years before but still felt it necessary to attend because that's what I was taught to do.
With the onset of Covid and quarantining as well as social distancing it was easy to stay away from meeting in congregations but did not take away the desire to read and pray and grow. After the highly politicized pandemic was over, I once again began to attend a few local churches. Having been blessed to stand behind the pulpit and even more so being blessed to have an internet ministry that reached the world for nearly ten years I found myself once again very disappointed with what God began to show me.
The Bible speaks of apostasy and backsliding. Many preachers today want to point their fingers and claim it is the great falling away. They want to blame people leaving the church for their dwindling numbers and their poor attendance. They accuse those who leave of backsliding and making the church look bad.
Oh, I can assure you it certainly does make the physical churches look bad, but what about the Spiritual Church. The real Church that real Christians belong to. Well, I can assure you it is alive and well and getting stronger every day. Let me explain a few things.
Real Christians read their Bibles and can discern the spirits. Just like an employer can tell which employee is worth his salt. It is not hard for Blood bought, born again, Spirit filled children of God to know who should and should not be expounding the Word of God to all who come before them.
Is it right for a true child of God to sit in a church and listen to a 15–20-minute sermonette with little or no substance?
Is it right to listen to a preacher start quoting the writings of men with questionable doctrine to explain how we should consider looking at the Word of God?
Is it right for a minister to preach for a living instead of living to preach?
I can assure the answer to all three of these questions is unequivocally NO!
And so, the soul that longs for preaching from the heart, preaching that fills the air for an hour with purpose; becomes hungry.
The soul that knows the scriptures draws its sword against false teaching and compromise.
And the soul that seeks a real preacher is the soul that seeks a man whose desire is to preach from his heart and not his head. A man who lives to preach and not one who preaches for a living.
So, you see the problem with churches today is not the true Christians leaving.
They are not leaving the faith. They are the ones who are gaining strength in their faith. They have risen from the dead to live uncompromising Spirit filled lives.
They refuse to be coddled like babies with little or nothing to feed and grow on.
They refuse to allow teachings from questionable authors and denominations and cults to enter the holiness of the Word of God that should be being taught.
They refuse to sit before a man who is more concerned about keeping his job as a pastor than he is being a devoted minister to God.
Yes, I said minister TO God. A devoted servant to God preaches His word by the power of the Holy Spirit to His children for God. The air is filled with experiential preaching that cuts deep and heals wounds and lifts the hearers to a life they need to live now and forever, AMEN!
That ain't no 15-minute sermonette!
People are leaving the church locations and congregations in great numbers, but they are not the ones falling away. They are not the ones backsliding. No, the problem is the churches themselves.
Day after day we see nothing but disunity, compromise, even blatant sin against the Word of God all in the name of attendance and income. Denominations call each other brothers but battle against each other for the most they can get. Heresies have begun swallowing up churches in the name of feel good and better than because they pretend to have more of God one way or another.
Is it any wonder real Blood bought, born again, Spirit filled children of God chose to stay at home and read and pray and live for God on their own? Is it any wonder websites and outreach ministries like this one have become their source of good sound preaching?
Yes, there is a great falling away.
Yes, there is a tremendous amount of backsliding. But it is in the churches and their leadership.
It's not the people who say enough is enough.
I will not support a preacher who is more worried about his income than being Gods minister that the Lord would build His House through.
I will not be cheated out of a fulfilling sermon meant to feed and build the body by the power of the truth in the Word.
I will not ignore what I know is not sound doctrine just to have a place to meet with others.
Welcome to Down Home Preaching.
This ministry has been started for everyone who would rather study and pray and praise God from home instead of participating in the compromising and the hypocrisy and the selfishness in the church today.
Remember, the real church is a spiritual body. As Christians we are all fitly joined in that body which makes up the true living church. No matter where you are or where you choose to praise and worship and serve God.
You may be alone in front of your computer screen or your phone reading this now, but you are still a member of Gods church along with thousands of others who are doing the same thing anytime and all the time. 24/7.
If you are not saved. If you have come to read this sermon then praise God. You wouldn't be here if the Holy Spirit hadn't drawn you to read this sermon this far.
Please before you leave this page, bow your head and ask God to show you more of the truth. Ask Him to light His path for you to follow. Ask Him to forgive you for not listening and desiring Him sooner. Ask Him to open your heart to know His Son Jesus.
And He will! AMEN!
Join us at www.downhomepreaching.com
Pastor Steven Freede
Short and Pointed
10/17/24
Community Church
Short and Pointed Sermon- #10723
Community Church
What ever happened to the community church?
Well, the answer is quite simple if we look in the Word of God.
And where in the Bible would we look?
The first church is where we will be looking, and we really need look no further than that. Nothing from that point on has anything to add or improve by change.
Let’s look at Acts 2:42-47
42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. 43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. 44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common; 45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. 46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
47 Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
As we read through these verses, I would like to point out a few very important words and phrases. This will give us a very clear picture of the first church. The first active, unified, God fearing, body of Christ. That’s what the church is. It’s the living body of Christ in our midst. It’s not a building where religious practitioners meet. It’s not an organization. It is a living organism created in Christ and blessed by God. Sadly, that is far from what we have today!
Let’s begin our study.
Verse 42 And they continued steadfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers.
New Christians casting off what they had been taught by tradition and of faith by works were now living a completely different life in Christ. Oh, there it is right off the bat. Living a new life in Christ. How many people today think a new life in Christ is going to their local church on Sunday and listening to a sermon. No more sleeping in and new clothes to wear. Wow! Don’t want anyone to think your not saved!
That my dear friends, is not a new life in Christ. A new life is drawing closer to Christ in His Word because He is the Word. It is casting off the old and becoming new in faith and obedience to the Word which is far more than just wearing new clothes and being recognized as a regular church attendee.
They continued not only learning but practicing what they were being taught about faith and good will toward others. They sought to commune with brethren and live in fellowship and prayer for each other. They became selfless.
This became a way of life for the first church. Their desire was to be with other God fearing, God honoring Christians. Their hearts desire was to know and live in Christ with each other and for each other.
43 And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles.
Fear as in awe and respect for the apostles and their ability to do many wonders and signs because of their faith. To witness that kind of Holy Spirit presence in fellow Christians strikes a powerful respect in all the brethren.
44 And all that believed were together, and had all things common;
Here is a very important passage for our subject in this sermon. All the believers were together. They were bound in faith and actively communed with each other. Their lives became devoted to the word of God and each other. Whatever they had was common to all of them. That is the best way to describe what they were. They were one in Christ.
45 And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need.
Those with more sold the extra and shared with those with less. There are some things that money can buy. This passage does not imply that goods were not being directly given for the care of others. It is a statement of abundant benevolence. Giving from what you have or make or raise always shows the love you have for others but selling properties and goods for their care is being your brother’s keeper.
46 And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart,
With one accord is used 10 times in Acts. It means single minded. Their thoughts were on the doctrine they were being taught and the joy and peace they had found in the love they shared with each other. They were united daily in faith at the temple or at each other’s homes. The breaking of bread is the base for fellowship. Here we see they were sharing full mealtimes with each other in the gladness and simplicity of their heart.
47 Praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved.
Praising God! Everything we just brought to light in these few verses is abundantly praiseworthy! Having favor with all the people is nothing more than favoring your brethren. Think about it. Who are you more likely to favor? Those who treat you with love, respect and care or those who would rather use you for what you can give? All the people in their faith filled, God fearing, obediently functioning community.
And the Lord added to them those whom He knew would be as they were.
“When the church was what God wanted it to be, then God did for the church what He was wanting to do.” (Chuck Smith)
Now, is there anything in the explanations of the what the first church was and how they functioned that resembles the church today? Is there anything in these verses that resembles your community today?
There is no community church when there is no church community!
What we have today is an overabundance of religions and religious meeting places that all claim they are or want to be a community church. It does not matter if they are run by a popular organized religious group or a simple non-denominational group, the answer is the same. There is no community church when there is no church community.
The first church was a community within itself. That is what is missing right here right now in this day and age.
Well, you might say of course it is. That was a long time ago and things have changed. Oh really!
Has God changed? Has His word changed? Has His promises changed? His intents and purposes? Have they changed?
No, men change the way they want to interpret and apply the truth of the Word of God and His very presence in their lives, but God never changes.
James 1:16-17
16 Do not err, my beloved brethren. 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
The only church that will be known and seen as a community church, in this day and age, is the church that is a living, growing prospering body within itself.
Stop trying to drag every other person in off the street!
Be what God intended for us to be within these four walls and with each other the rest of the time and God will add to the Body of Christ.
Cut the gossip, put away the pointed fingers and the stir sticks and be the faith filled, loving, caring, sharing, peaceful, devoted and single-minded body that Christ was and is for us!
Don’t waste your time creating programs and events to attract the general public.
9 For the eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to shew himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him. ---- 2 Chronicles 16:9
Be a God fearing, obedient body within the church and outside of the church with each other and God will add to you daily.
Psalms 127:1
1 Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it:
except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.
There is no community church when there is no church community!
It’s His plan for a church community.
It’s the only one that truly adds them that should be saved. AMEN!
Short and Pointed----Community Church Pastor Steven Freede Down Home Preaching Ministry 10/7/23
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