7 Ways to Fear God and Live (Video)

is very important and it's weighed on me. It's weighed on me hard this week because it's an important topic. It's actually a topic that could change our nation. It could change the course of history. It could change Washington DC. It could change California. It would actually make the Supreme Court tremble before they make decisions legalizing what God has not legalized. And that topic tonight, the title is seven ways to fear God and live. And you're not going to hear the fear of God preached in many pulpits because it's not popular. If you do a survey, you look at a lot of things, messages on TV, you're not going to hear a lot of sermons about the fear of the Lord. But if you go back a hundred years and you start reading, you start reading people like A.W. Tozer, Demartin Lloyd-Jones, Leonard Ravenhill, the Puritans, and tons of people that came before us. The fear of God was present. It was powerful because the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of understanding. When legislators, can you imagine legislators going in to legislate and the judicial system getting ready to go in and decide on those laws and the president. And if they feared God, if they feared God and they knew there was a, there was a ramification to their decisions. If our governors, if our elected leaders actually fear God and they will go out and fear and trepidation. And if we could get the fear of God back in our families again and in our churches again. And I should remind you though, that fear can be a good thing. Correct? I have a little one and a half year old and I fear every time she is by the pool. Is that a bad thing? It's a very good thing because fear will make me alert to things that are important. Fear will cause me to make different decisions. And the type of fear for God is a reverence and a respect. And many of you have been to the church before. I've shared this story, but just, just before, but just humor me for those who have not heard this, but I used to actually run a heavy equipment in this area, in the Antelope Valley. I was a heavy equipment operator. And you ever see those markings in the street that say USA? They're not, they're not pro USA. It means underground service alert. And they are notifying you that there are gas mains. We have a Texas, a gas main running from Texas to California, about 36 inches to 42 inches in diameter. You hit that, you're going to take out a block. So I had reverence. I had respect for these gas lines, 12,000 volts of electricity that I would be digging next to. See, there's a fear, there's a reverence, there's a respect for those things. Same thing with God. It's not this fear of an abusive father. It's a reverence and respect. And we need to get that back in our churches again and back into our homes again and back into the pulpits again. I'm going to try to fix this once and for all. There we go. A little better. So the title, Seven Ways to Fear God and Live. Is that too close, Luke? Does that sound okay? Well, you might wonder where I'm going with this, fear God and live. I'm, I'm grabbing it from Proverbs 14, 27. The fear of the Lord. Listen, some of you need to hear this. We've been playing games with God too long, many people. We've been halfway on the fence. We think that God is a doting grandfather or a cosmic ball of love. That is not He. God is holy and righteous and we should stand in awe. That's where that word awesome can come from. Awesome and that holy reverence of God and getting back to that. It changes the way you worship. It changes the way you pray and it actually brings a lot of joy into your life. Because when you fear God, here's the key. You ready for this? When you fear God, you do not fear man. When you fear God, you do not fear man. And when you have a lot of fear of man, you don't fear God. And I know it's a very challenging time right now. People I look up to, you know, John MacArthur, Jack Hibbs, other pastors I know opening churches and, and they have to fear God more than man. And that's where a lot of these decisions are coming from. And once we begin to fear man, we begin to, as pastors, we begin to worry about what you think. Are you going to come back next week? Am I motivating? Did I tickle the ears? I don't want to upset. I don't want to step on toes. But the more I read the Bible, it steps on toes. Does it not? It ruffles feathers. It convicts us. That's why the word, the writer of, I believe it was Hebrews. Don't quote me on that. I'm just, scriptures come to me sometimes and I don't reference the exact chapter and verse because I like what Jesus did. It is written. It is written. It is written. It is written. The prophet said. I love that. The prophet said. But you should double check it. And I encourage you, check everything I'm saying to you. A true person speaking on behalf of God's word will challenge you and want you. I would love for you to get into your word tomorrow and say, I'm going to look those things up and see. But the scripture says that the word of God is living. It is powerful. It's sharper than any double-edged sword. It pierces. It divides. It cuts. It convicts. And that's where the heart begins to break and open up and say, oh my God, I need you. I repent of my sin and I turn back to you. And if all we do is coddle, that's wonderful for a newborn. But you can't coddle a teenager. There's a time and a place for coddling and encouraging, but there's a time and a place for conviction. And only pastors and preachers and teachers who are spending time with God, filled with God's word and filled with his presence, they'll be able to be led by the spirit to direct that encouragement when needed. And they'll be able to direct that conviction when needed. And being open to what God wants to say through his word, not the opinions of men. Proverbs 14, 27, the fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. That's why I said seven ways. We're going to cover seven ways to fear God and live. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life. What he means by that is, how many of you are experiencing the abundant life, a joy-filled life, this rivers of living water flowing out of you? I know many of you are, but many of you aren't. And that's because there's not a fear of God, an awesome presence of God in your life and in your heart. And that fear brings a fountain of life. And then he said that one may turn away from the snares of death. So the fear of God turns our hearts away from the snares of death. And the Bible does talk about a physical death, of course. When we don't fear God, we open ourselves up to tremendous dangers physically as well. But there's also spiritual death. It is appointed unto man once to die. And then after that, the judgment. And that fear of God makes so many people turn to him. But I understand the love of God and the grace of God. Don't get me wrong. I love the song Amazing Grace. It's grace that's brought me here this far, and it's going to be grace that takes me home. We never minimize. You see, the fear of God and holiness never push grace out of the way. They come up and they complement it. They go together. Anytime you try to highlight certain attributes of God over others, you begin to become off balance. That's why I believe Paul said Timothy preached the entire word, the whole word of God. So number one, this is going to encourage you. Number one, the fear of God restrains. The fear of God restrains evil. And that's why I get a little upset when we give criminals community service, or we dumb down certain things, and we begin to minimize penalty. And there's no restraint. People just do whatever they want, but the fear of God will restrain you. In Genesis 20, Abram said, there is surely no fear of God in this place. And I thought, America, hello. Hello. There is no fear of God in this place. You begin to look at Facebook and all kinds of evils in the media, all kinds of evils are rising up and rearing their ugly head because there's no fear of God. They actually mock God. But he said, there is no fear of God in this place. And they will kill me because of my wife. In other words, she was attractive, and the king was going to want her, and they would just take him out to take her. But see, when the fear of God is there, you respect life. That's the one thing that you can be sure of that's happening now with the partial birth abortion, and at nine months, and a nation that has killed millions of children. And I do not apologize for that. I want to encourage those who've experienced that before, and I've opened up before to my own church that I conceded to my girlfriend's abortion 25 years ago. And I often wonder, I often wonder if I've ever been a boy or a girl, and I can relate. I understand. But we also have to repent in our nation for allowing this. And we allow it because there's no fear of God in this place. When you fear God, you respect the dignity of life. It's amazing. We all want to end racism, right? But the best way to end that is you fear God. You fear God, you treat people better. You can't just push legislation and get rid of the police like that's gonna, that's gonna fix racism. You have to get to the heart and fear God Almighty. Robert Winthrop, he was early founder, not a quite a founder of our nation, but he was instrumental in the early conception of America. He said this, men must be controlled either by a power within them or by a power without, either by the word of God or by the strong arm of man, either by the Bible or by the bayonet. See, man has to be controlled somehow. He's either controlled by force or he's controlled by reverence and fear for God Almighty. So bringing back the fear of God into your own personal lives, it will restrain you in a good way. And then number two, what does the fear of the Lord do? It influences. Doesn't the fear of God influence you? What about the midwives? Anyone know what the midwives were, theologians? In the book of Genesis, what did the midwives do? Pharaoh said, kill all the male children and the midwives feared God. The midwives feared God. Joseph feared God. Isn't this interesting? Potiphar's wife was hitting on Joseph. Joseph said, come on, don't play church like you don't know what I'm talking about. She was hitting on Joseph, alluring, making advances at Joseph. And Joseph said what? How can I sin against God? See, there was a fear of God in his life. Israel's leaders are so many examples. And I think of Proverbs 9, often the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. So if you want to, do you want to make wise decisions? Do you want to know what God's will is? Then fall down on your face when you get home and begin to cry out to God and say, Lord, I fear you. I reverence you. I respect you. Would you, would you guide me and direct me? And then Proverbs 9 continues, and the knowledge of the Holy one is understanding. So when you truly know God and reverence him, I don't know exactly how it works, but you become wise. That's wisdom. See, a lot of Christians have knowledge, but not wisdom. You know what the difference is? Knowledge is I know what to do. Wisdom is I'm going to do it. And wisdom is the main thing. Proverbs also reminds us it's, it's the, it's the main thing that should be put above everything else, being wise and seeking wisdom. And I don't know about you, but how many of us here want revival in our nation, in our landscape, revival, awakening? Well, I read a lot of books on revival. I've studied a lot of revival. Looked throughout the Bible on revival from Josiah's time to New Testament. And often the fear of God must be preached. When, when the fear of God is preached, revival hits, because people, like in the book of Acts, falling down, or Corinthians, I think it was, falling down on their knees, they begin to worship God, say truly God is in this place because it's a people who fear God and have a reverence for God. There's a conviction of sin. God is really among you. So not only does it not only does it influence, it also educates. The fear of God will educate you. Proverbs 2, if you cry out for discernment, if you lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver and search for her as hidden treasure, then you will discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. Now, let me highlight a few things. If you cry out for discernment, cry. There has to be a desperation. I believe sometimes God wants to know how bad do we want it. There's a desperate cry, a desperate call. Have you ever spent all night on your face before God or morning prayer meetings and said, God, I need to hear from you. I'm desperate. My marriage is falling apart. My finances, my health, and I'm crying out to you. I need wisdom. I need discernment and that fear of God gets you in a position to hear. And there's a word there. If you seek her as silver, seek her as the most important thing that you possess, you will find God. Are you seeking? And West Side Christian Fellowship, you know this. I've talked on this before and I think it's important now, but that word seek, often in the Old Testament, it's a Hebrew word that means bakash, bakash. What it looks like is, how many of you have little kids here tonight? Okay, over here, a lot over here because that's where they're running up on the grass knolls sometimes. We can look for them. This word is like, if you were to get up and say, where is Johnny? Where's little Johnny? Have you seen Johnny? Where's he at? Would you say, well, let's go stop at In-N-Out Burger first and then we'll look for him. Would you say, let's go to the bathroom. I gotta go to the bathroom. Let me talk to my friend Chris before they leave. No, you would say, where is Johnny? I need to find him. Would you search this entire premise? Would you call others and help? And everything, all energy, all time, all focus is consumed on seeking. Oh church, if we could get back to seeking God like that, you would see revival. You would see awakening. God wants to draw unto you if you draw unto him. If you seek me with all of your heart, you will find me. If you seek me as silver, as gold and search for me as hidden treasure, then you will discern. You will know what the fear of the Lord is. So I encourage you, ask for that tonight. Say, God, I want to seek you with all of my heart. Now, remove the word perfection from your mind right now. That's not what I'm talking about. God is not, I learned a long time ago, thank God he's not looking for perfect, perfect Christians. Is he looking for perfect pastors? Praise God, he's not. He's looking for broken, humble hearts that want to seek him with all of their heart, with all of their strength. Though he fall, he will not be utterly cast down because God upholds him with his right hand. Would you come to me all who are weak and heavy laden, and I will build you up. I will strengthen you. The eyes of the Lord go to and fro throughout the whole earth to show himself strong on behalf of those whose hearts are loyal to him, are focused on him. See, it's always the condition of the heart. It's not about perfection, it's about direction. I have to calm down. I feel my voice going again. These big crowds out in the stadium will do that to you. The funny thing is, I've never felt more alive because I feel like this is what God has called me to do. I feel that he's called me to reach out to the masses. Folks, this is a dying world. It is so, I don't know if you've been following the news on what's going on and the sex trafficking, how many children are taken and trafficked. It's unbelievable. It is, I cry sometimes, I say, Lord, what in the world, the stench of wickedness. We need to get back to fearing God again. And then number four, don't misunderstand this one, the fear of God will bless you. The fear of God will bless you. Now, before you get up and leave and say, oh, I didn't know Shane was a prosperity teacher, health and wealth and whatever they call that stuff that's not the gospel. I'm not talking about, why does our mind automatically go to money? I just want God to bless me. I don't care if I never make another dollar. I want the blessings of God. I want my dryer not to break. I want my car to run well. I want my kids to be healthy. I want the church to be blessed. I want all of you to be blessed. What it is, it's an abundant, fruitful life, not having a lot of money. Now that can be a byproduct sometimes if you're a giver and you want it, God wants to bless you with that. But with that word blessed is a full, abundant life filled with joy because you're in right relationship with God and I am blessed. You know, you cannot have much and still be blessed, right? Those people keeping up with the Joneses are not blessed. The Joneses aren't happy and neither are you. I don't even, I've never met the Joneses, but that, the blessed, we somehow, we tie in money and oh, if I could just, listen, millionaires are miserable. Hollywood is miserable. It doesn't answer life's deepest questions because only God can do that. Psalm 112, if you want a verse, 112, how blessed, how blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in his commandments. Oh good, I'm glad I got here because I was going here. Blessing also follows obedience. I feel strongly that some of you need to hear this tonight. You've been disobeying God. You've been running from Him. You know what He's told you to do and you haven't done it. You've been living in disobedience, whether it's sexual sin, whether it's addiction, whatever it is. I'm not trying to beat you down. I'm trying to encourage you because there's no better spot to be than back in the center of God's will. Listen, I've fallen so many times. I don't, I lost track over the, over the course of my entire life, but God wants us to get up and obey Him. Come out from among them. Be separate. There's a separation. There's a holy. I would love to preach a message on holiness because obedience and unhappiness, disobedience and unhappiness often go together. The reason I have found that most Christians are miserable is because they're often disobeying God. Now, I'm not saying that's everyone here, but if the shoe fits, would you wear it? There, there's a, there's a, there's a joy with obedience. When you ask for forgiveness, when you get your heart right, when you repent, when you apologize, when you get rid of that relationship that you know is wrong, but you've been in it for so long that you're bound to it. God says, I'm looking, I'm waiting for you to begin to obey me again, and blessings will follow obedience. Blessings always follow obedience, and many times when we're, we're, when we're the most miserable, it's when we're stuck in disobedience. So please do not be discouraged because obedience doesn't mean, well, after this, you better get out your checklist, you better please God for the next two months. Obedience looks like this. God, I'm sorry, I repent, I need to change that, and with your help, I will. You're back in the center of God's will. Yes, there might be consequences. There might be consequences to this, but God will lead you through. He will take you through, and that's what we talked about last week. Here's what's interesting about the midwives in Exodus 121. Because the midwives feared God, He gave them families of their own. So these midwives would actually nurse the children. Sometimes they'd take care of the children, and they didn't have their own children, and God would bless them with their own families because of their obedience to Him. Did you know that these midwives could have been killed? These midwives could have been killed for not obeying Pharaoh, and they chose to obey God rather than man. And when you begin to fear God, that becomes the heartbeat of your life. Number five, the fear of God transforms you. It transforms you, and it was all I could do to not do a whole sermon on this part right here. Acts, they said in the book of Acts, the disciples walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. So the early church, you know the early church grew. The early church did great exploits is because they walked in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort of the Holy Spirit. That word comfort can mean urging or exhortation, and I just love to talk about the power of the Spirit. Oh, if we could get the power of the Holy Spirit back, you would see lives radically change. You would see healing take place. You would see people being delivered and set free. The power of the Spirit. I'm not talking about weirdness. I'm talking about boldness. I'm not talking about loud. I'm being bold. I'm talking about being bold and confrontational. You're anointed with the Spirit of God. Did you know that all of those are biblical? Those are biblical words. When you hear the baptism of the Spirit, the unction of the Spirit, the filling of the Spirit, the empowerment of the Spirit, the dunamis dynamite power of the Spirit, those are all biblical terms. And we need the Spirit's power like never before. And I'm hoping I can talk about that next Saturday. So it transforms you. When you fear, here's why. When you fear God, I believe, in the right way, when you fear God, you begin to be filled of the Spirit. Do you not? Because when you don't fear God, you're doing things you shouldn't be doing. You're fearing man, and you begin to quench and grieve the Holy Spirit within you. Just a quick lesson on theology for those who are not aware. When a person repents and believes in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit comes into your life, and He seals you, and He saves you, and He sets you free. God, the Bible is clear that He seals you until the day of redemption. You have the Holy Spirit in your life, and now you can walk in the power of the Holy Spirit. But when you begin to disobey God, you begin to quench. Think of a fire. You begin to quench the fire. How many of you have once had the fire of God, and it's been quenched? Well, I want to serve notice on you tonight that you can get back right to the fire. You can put your arms in that fire and say, God, I need that refiner's fire again. I need that boldness. I need that love that I felt many, many years ago. I need that power and authority and boldness in the Holy Spirit. Now, some of you think arrogance is boldness. It's not. Actually, the more filled a person becomes with God's Spirit, the more humble they become. And it's through that humility that they become bold. Their words are seasoned with grace. They're gentle. They're not judgmental. So the fear of God will transform you from the inside out. And then number six, it guards you. The fear of the Lord will guard you. Psalm 115, you who fear the Lord, you who fear the Lord. Listen, this is a promise to you tonight. Anybody want promises from God's word? Listen, you cannot trust in the economy. I hope you're not trusting in your bank. I hope you're not trusting in November 3rd. I hope you're trusting in God and God alone. Because he said, you who fear the Lord, and if you trust in the Lord, he is your help and he is your shield. Psalm 34 says, the angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear God. Try it sometime. Go on Google and say, how many scriptures talk about the fear of the Lord? It's just everywhere throughout the scriptures. So it will guard you. When you begin to fear God, you walk differently, you speak differently, you act differently. There's a reverence and it'll begin to guard and shelter your family. Amen? How many parents are letting demonic things into their homes by what they watch and what they view and what they allow their kids to saturate their mind with? Well Shane, that's just a harmless Ouija board. I've heard that. What's wrong with watching witches and warlocks and darkness and vampires and all that? What's the big deal? Be careful. Those who fear God understand that those things directly oppose him. Darkness should never entertain you. Darkness should never entertain the church. Let me repeat those again. It restrains evil. It influences your decisions. It will make you wise. It will bless you. It will transform you. Fearing God. I remember when I came back to the Lord, 1999 or so, I think it was right over here, Black Angus, I was kicked out for life. I don't know if I've ever been back. I was drunk and on steroids 30 years ago or 25 years ago. And God just began to break me and break me. And I remember in Courts Hill, right over here, I finally repented of my pride. I repented of my arrogance. And I said, God, I fear you. I need to know you. I need you to save me and set me free. And it transformed my life. Everything changed. Have you ever been where everything changes? The Bible used to be boring. Anybody? Hello? Boring, dry, dead. Then it comes alive. It comes alive. And the Word of God. Why? Because the Holy Spirit who wrote the Bible is now in my life, leaping with joy, calling out, Abba, Father, not get away from me, Father. Come back to me, Son. And the prodigal son came home. And the Bible became alive. And I even tried putting on George Strait and a six-pack of beer. And that wasn't satisfying anymore. I had to put on Hill Song. Remember those old songs? Shout to the Lord. And these are the days of... Why don't I forget the song? What was it? Oh, these are the days of Elijah. Those songs in Egypt. What's going on in my heart? Would Lord help me? I'm loving the things of God. I'm becoming bold and wanting to stand up for God. And then what's going on? It transforms me. When you come back to God, you will be transformed. And you won't be miserable. You'll be filled with joy. Because you know that God who... The God of the universe has you. He's holding you. He keeps you together. And He will see you through. The good work I began in you, I will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ. Oh, and then number 7. Are you ready for number 7? Number 7. I'm going to read to you a verse that is not read in many churches. And you know what? When I say that, I should clarify. There's a lot of great churches. I would never want to elevate West Side Christian Fellowship. Or elevate myself. There are pastors in this valley that I look up to. And I text and I talk to. That are encouragement to me. But I'm talking about the pulpits as a whole in America. We have lost the fear of Lord. They want to replace the pulpit with the couch. They want to have conversations. Let's talk about these things. And let's dialogue. No. You get up and you preach the Word of God from a heart that's on fire from God's Spirit. That's what preaching is. Did you know? Here's what preaching is. This is what preaching is. You can look it up in D. Martin Lloyd-Jones' book, Preachers and Preaching. Theology is coming through a man who is on fire for God. That's preaching. I've never heard a better definition. And you get on fire for God when you talk about all of His truth. You say the grace of God is as wide as this universe. But the holiness and the righteousness and the fearing of Almighty God, it will change the way we live. And you preach heaven sweet and hell hot. You preach the grace of God, but the holiness of God. You don't dumb down certain things. I'm tired of people trying to make the gospel palatable. Do you know what that word means? It doesn't taste good. Jesus didn't go on a cross and die for the sins of the world so we could make that taste good. People need to feel the full weight of what that means. Romans says the wages of sin is death. It cost Christ His life to pay for our sin, our ransom on the cross. Why are we avoiding talking about the things that put Jesus on the cross? There's churches, even in our valley, I've heard them say, listen, let's take out all the worship songs about the blood of Christ. Let's don't make people feel this way. We're not going to talk about judgment. We're not going to talk about repentance. We're not going to talk about sin. We're not going to talk about righteousness and holiness. We're just going to focus on the good things. Unfortunately, the good things don't save you. The full gospel, the full gospel. And how do we properly understand grace unless you properly understand what we've been saved from? Wouldn't I appreciate God's grace more when I understand the magnitude of my sin? So number seven, Matthew 10 28, Jesus said, and do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Too many of us are worried about those who can kill the body, but not kill the soul. Jesus said, but rather fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in. Are you ready for this? Is it okay to say this? I don't know. I don't know. People don't like this word. People don't like this word. I don't like this word. I prefer not to preach this word, but the spirit of the living God within me says, preacher, preach the word that I put on your heart. Jesus said, he who can cast both body and soul in hell, it's the eternal separation from God. There is a judgment to come. Any preacher worth their salt will tell you that. I don't take any joy in it, but it's the truth. So number seven, the fear of God can save you. The fear of God can save you if you fear God and turn to him. Because we have to remember Matthew 7, a favorite chapter of many people. Matthew 7, it's Jesus is giving this great discord and he said, not everyone who says to me, okay, you ready for this? Listen up. I don't know if you're getting tired yet or look at your phone. Don't listen. Not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, shall enter the kingdom of heaven. Not everyone in this place right now, I guarantee you, not everyone that says to me, Lord, Lord, will enter heaven. Jesus says, he who does the will of my father, he who does the will of father. Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, we did all these things in your name. I cast out demons in your name. I did wonderful things in your name. I was in ministry. I was on the worship team. I played guitar. I was the usher. I was the deacon. I did all these things in your name and Jesus will say, I guarantee with tears in his eyes, probably, I don't know you. Depart from me, you who practice lawlessness. See, there's a practicing of sin and not a turning from it. I'm not talking about struggling. Who doesn't struggle with sin? I gave you that challenge last week to come talk to me afterwards. Nobody took me up on that because it's not true. We all struggle. This is a blatant lifestyle that rejects Jesus Christ. Therefore, Jesus said, whoever hears these sayings of mine and does them, I will liken him to a man who built his house on the rock and when the rains came and when the floods came, it did not fall. Why? Because it was founded on the rock of Jesus Christ. Oh, if I could just, if I could just have your ear for a minute, turn to God. Come and see what God has done. He invites you even the top row all the way over to the side. Come and see what God has done. The blind see, the deaf hear, the lame walk, addictions are broken, pain is healed, fear is conquered when you bow your knee to Jesus Christ almighty. That's the only knee I will ever bow to is the name of Jesus Christ. Every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that Christ is Lord. It's so funny and there's not a week that goes by somebody doesn't say, Shane, why do you get so passionate? What's your problem, dude? Man, just chill out. Listen, I was on my, I was on a highway to hell long before AC, well, no, maybe ACDC did write about it before. I don't know. I remember listening to it. I'm on a highway to hell. I remember hitting 100 miles an hour and I'm just God, but if it wasn't for the grace of God, he reached down and he saved me. We laugh at these homeless people, some of you, but if I look at them, sometimes I begin to cry because if it were not for the grace of God, there go I. And God reached down and he grabbed the prodigal son and he said, son, come back to me. And when you come back to God and you're filled with the spirit of God and you see him set people free, shouldn't you be excited? Shouldn't you be passionate? Oh, come on. Some of you jump up and down for your favorite team when they're winning. Look, look what's going on. But when you get in church, you're handcuffed. I better stop. I'm losing my voice. Don't stop. That's easy for you to say. Listen, I love Ecclesiastes. Look how he finishes. Now, all that has been said, here is the conclusion of the matter. Solomon, most greatest man, according to the Bible, full of wisdom that was ever, ever lived on planet Earth because God gave him wisdom. And he said, after everything's been said, here's the conclusion. Fear God and keep his commandments for this is the duty of all mankind to fear God and keep his commandments. So I want to encourage some of you when I talked about baptism, I want to read Mark 16. Whoever believes in me and is baptized will be saved. Not might, not Jesus might consider it. Whoever believes on me as the scriptures say, out of your belly will flow rivers of living water and you will know the true and living God. But he said here, believe and be baptized, you will be saved. But whoever does not believe will be condemned. And see, that's this impression that people have of God, this mean, angry, condemning person. Did you know that God doesn't send anyone to hell? You show me a scripture. What they do is they reject him. They reject his grace. They reject his conviction. And they don't want the bridge that he built through the suffering of his son on the cross. And he said, God, this is the only way I can be with you. Man is so sinful and so and so depraved that it's only but for the precious blood of Jesus Christ. What can wash away my sin? Nothing but the blood of Jesus. And so people reject that. And I just want to encourage you, don't play games with God. Don't play games with God. Don't live your life with a question mark here. I would love to baptize you, whether you're recommitting or whether you're coming to the Lord for the first time, whatever it is, we should not be embarrassed. Should we not? We should not be embarrassed to say, I am standing up for Jesus Christ. I am going to change, have God changed my life. I'm repenting of my sin, and I need that grace of God. So I'm going to have the worship team come back up, and we're going to go into a time of worship. I want to encourage you, just worship God with all your heart, with all your strength, and let this message hit you at a very deep level. And let me tell you something, I forgot, I used to say this all the time, if you don't like what I'm saying, it's because you need to hear what I'm saying. That is the gospel truth. If you don't like what I'm saying, listen, this is coming from somebody who is slandered and ridiculed and mocked every day, 365 days a year. And it's often because people are convicted. They're convicted, and that's why I get passionate, is because Jesus said, come would you drink of the living water? Jesus said that, would you would you come and drink of the living water? I have water of which you will never thirst again. Come and drink of it. I can't force you. I can't make you. All I can do is plead and pull and ask, come and drink of the living water. Jesus Christ says, oh, if you will come to me all are weak and heavy laden, I will give you the rest that you will need. I will give you the comfort that you need.