The Fear of God
by James Chester
First Apostolic Church of Maryville (Maryville, TN)
Kind: sermon
Scripture: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14, Proverbs 29:25, Romans 3:18, Acts 27:22-23, Isaiah 41:10, Hebrews 13:5-6

Source: https://acts238.life/repository/sermons/james-chester--the-fear-of-god
Published by Acts 2:38 Life from the sermon transcript on that page.
Free to copy and share with attribution.

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in The Archives of ancient Israel in a time of turmoil and transition there arose a band of men whose story remains etched in the Sacred Scriptures these were the gadites Mighty Warriors from the tribe of GAD dwelling on the Eastern side of the Jordan River picture it men if you would the backdrop of this narrative a kingdom in disarray a king in Decline and a Shepherd boy anointed by the Lord destined to the throne this young Shepherd David was marked for greatness yet he was hunted by the very King he was destined to replace as David sought refuge in the wilderness a rugged and dangerous terrain far from the Comforts of his home and the security of his people something remarkable took place something amazing took place it was here in the wild that the gaddais men of Might Men of War made a choice made a decision made a move that would forever Define their legacy and in the darkest hour of David's life when danger loomed and fear threatened these gadite Warriors separated themselves unto David they left their homes they left their families and they committed to join their future king in a rugged wilderness these men were men of exceptional skill their hands were skilled for the art of Battle Masters of the shield and Buckler but it wasn't their physical prowess that set them apart no they were strong but they wore an identity they were gifted Bishop but they favored something hear me today they were skilled but they had a noticeable demeanor they were powerful but their appearance was striking for these get out Warriors was looked upon and one couldn't help but notice for the Bible says whose faces were like the faces of lions in a world riddled with uncertainty where danger lurked around every corner these men stood unflinching unwavering unrelenting as if the spirit of the lion roared within them I come with a message to start our conference it's 2023 uncertainty abounds division is soaring anxieties ascending Panic ensuing and fear is rising and I want you to know this evening that the devil the world and its system is feeding this fearful climate and we as men are being pressed upon to be conformed to this world I want to preach to you tonight since 2020 there's been a significant evidence and studies in indicating a rise in fear a rise in anxiety there is also been statistics given that faithful Church attendance has plummeted to levels not seen in decades the wisest man whoever lived said these words the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the Holy is understanding I want to say this to us tonight you cannot go and get anywhere with god without a proper biblical fear of him and I come to declare our first night in this first message that if the fear of God is dying within us or around us we are in trouble hear me tonight men hear me tonight if we ever lose the fear of God we are doomed to be snared we will get caught up and Tangled in the systems of Darkness Solomon also went on to write these words he said in Ecclesiastes 12 and 13. let us hear the whole conclusion of the whole matter let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter look what he says fear God keep his Commandments for this is the whole duty of man for God shall bring every work into judgment with every secret thing whether it be good or whether it be evil I am declaring to this group of men tonight that if you don't have a healthy biblical fear of God you need to get it tonight and you need to hold on to it and if you're a man who once feared the Lord and that fear has eroded with the times I come with a warning from God I believe we Apostolic men need a healthy baptism of fear of the fear of God in this generation I want you to know the early church had it our elders had it the men who trained me had it and we've got to keep it in our hearts and we've got to keep it in our view Proverbs 29 and 25. says the fear of man bringeth a snare but whosoever puteth his trust in the Lord shall be safe I want to say to you tonight there's no greater safety there's no greater position for a man than to fully be trusting his God and to have a proper fear of his God and I believe that when any man improperly places what God has reserved for himself a snare comes with it when we lose a fear of God it's replaced with an overwhelming fear of men allowing human opinions and desires to overshadow God's commands I wish you'd help me preach tonight I believe one of the greatest tragedies of our generation is the rise of men who have no fear of God but a disproportionate amount of fear of the world and of man and I'm here to declare the word of God and not just an opinion this trend keeps bringing sorrow to this world this trend of men fearing things and people more than their God bring snares and traps to a generation I want to preach to you tonight it creates dysfunction in the home it creates dysfunction in the church and God help us if it's in any leadership let me say it like this tonight honor follows healthy fear dishonor follows lack of fear when you look at the world and you see the open behavior of its occupants and you look at this Bible you see that there's a lack of knowledge of God and there is a lack of fear of God and when you study the Bible you can clearly see this in the life of lot men of the aojc and our friends tonight we remember Lot's wife but we should never forget lot's life lot did not have a healthy fear of God lot chose the fertile Jordan Valley including Sodom and Gomorrah he lacked a reverence for God's righteousness and I want to tell you tonight men we better carry the fear of God with us when we are choosing directives for our family and for our children can I preach on lot's willingness to offer his daughters to the wicked men of Sodom reflects a compromise of moral principles can I alert you tonight men the world stands ready to receive and indoctrinate our children upon their altars I'm wondering if there is a dad left in the house of God that has the fear of God that says not my house not my family not here not now let me preach to you a little bit lot hesitated and the angel intervened and let his family out where he should have had The Godly guts to do it like a God-fearing man but he feared other things more than God he chose gold over God can I I just want to preach plain tonight to you I just want to preach Blaine tonight to you it's a tragedy in our generation when any man woman or Angel has to intervene and lead your family out of chaos when God wants you to detach from the world and lead them out but lot lot didn't fear God and his legacy was a disaster when you look at the Life and Legacy of light you see angels and friends having to pry things of the world off of him Abraham prayed and interceded often for him and it looks like God needed a crowbar to separate him from ungodliness I'm going to get right here with somebody in this place tonight man if you're Pastor is constantly having to take a crowbar to unlodge the things of the world from your life I'm here to declare you need a renewed fear of God you need a renewed reverence of God we need Warriors that's got the face of lions I've noticed over the last few years something seems to be slipping away from some people rather than me and electrifying the atmosphere with their faith men you can change the atmosphere with your fear I'm alerting every Pastor every men's director every man in this room fearful men are contagious and it contaminates sometimes in the church I think it's appropriate for us to pray and discern whether we're dealing with fearful men I'm going to be bold with you today fearful men hinder the church fearful men hinder their families it isn't popular but it's true the presence of fearful of the fearful and self-interest are always a hindrance to God's work all right it's confession time my friends believe the older we get the more grumpy we are about things my best friend brother traxel and brother Wilkes would say I'm double baptized with it and my family would say Amen to that my family would agree because my family some mornings I am referred to at our house as Grump buckets and I've noticed the last few years sometimes Grump buckets show up in my preaching and I've accepted this and I warn you for the next couple of moments this is Chester's grunt bucket Lament now let me say a couple of things to you tonight I don't think we are to become unfriendly and uptight but my word we need a healthy respect for the house of God and its leadership v-a-o-jc we have generations of men that walk circumspectfully as the Bible teaches and the decline in the fear of God in my opinion has led to some dishonoring conduct that we really need to discontinue the food trucks are waiting on us should I preach or shall we go eat men of the apostolic faith how has the house of God become so expendable how is that faithful worship with our fellow Believers become optional as if it is an option that moved to a lower level of priority on the Family's weekly schedule your Bible says a fool has said in his heart there is no God and I've seen men recently rush in Where Angels Fear To Tread it's a lack of fear it's a lack of the fear of God and it's leading people down a dark path and I want to tell you that there are dysfunctions that come with a fearful man Romans 3 and 18 the Bible says there is no fear of God before their eyes Paul is referring to a group with spiritual blindness leading to a distorted picture of life I want to tell you a lack of fear leads to an excessive fear of others and things and when this happens the dysfunctional fearful man will prioritize human opinions judgments and desires over God's commands and his directives and when Paul gets to Romans 3 and 18 he's not referring to sinners he says in verse 12 they are all gone out of the way they are those who have turned from God they once knew they lack fear the fear of God before their eyes their decisions their conversations their actions no fear of God in view when an Apostolic man has a fear of God and Trouble Comes he goes to his God first his family knows this his Pastor trusts this his children cherish this but the fearful man it's not so the fearful man doesn't know where to go he's bewildered and he flounders he no longer goes to God first so he's confused for a bit and then he chooses his own path and he will likely choose the path of least resistance because he fears others more than he fears God instead of living with a Godly headship and view meaning he is under the headship of Christ he now puts other things as his head God's word is no longer the authority it's just one of many opinions and since it's challenging to the flesh he now puts other things as his head God's word is no longer The Authority it's just one of many opinions and since it's challenging to the flesh it's often resisted and discarded the church and its leadership who still hold to the word of God who still esteem the word of God they become offensive enemies the man who no longer fears God is reduced to the enabling Spirit of Ahab who will align with anything but the voice of God and I'm telling you I feel this so deep within me tonight I am not going to mention ahab's wife mainly because I have over emphasized her role as others have as well Pastor McCool Pastor Mark McCool said it best a few years ago the reality is this if there wasn't a weak enabling husband named Ahab we wouldn't have to deal with what's her face the man who fears God always alive himself with God no not no matter what it cost him no matter who opposes him the fearful man can destroy lives because when the hand of discipline comes to the fearful man's house he will quickly turn everyone to victims and God's people into villains I've got to say this to you tonight this may not be maybe this was yesteryears for you maybe it's now or maybe it's something in the near future but hear me Apostolic men if you won't stand up to your family when they're wrong and quickly stand against your pastor when he isn't you need the fear of God in your life if you talk to your pastor in a way you would never speak to your boss you need to get a hold of the Bible and get a fear of God man make the primary things the primary things for yourself and for your family how will your children ever know to put God first if they don't see you practicing it and thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy hearts with all thy soul with all thy mind and with all the strength this is the first commandment s your children Must Learn by your lived example dads I'm on your team tonight give your kids a fun life but don't create a schedule for yourself for them that points their hearts Souls minds and strength away from the love of God and serving the kingdom of God I have to be bold with us tonight this world system wants to destroy your children anxiety and depression among young people is stealing their minds we have to show them by the word of God and our example how to trust the Peace of the prince of peace and how to stand sure and steadfast and not waver we as dads as men we've got to diligently teach them who God created them to be this world is no longer satisfied to Simply have women dressing as men we we used to be shocked when men would dress as women but we are well past that now the world is moving at warp speed Beyond violating the external distinction of dress I come to say how dare we compromise on this scriptural teaching in a time like this when the cultural norm would now have you believe that a woman can be surgically changed into a man and a man could be surgically changed into a woman do you fear God and his word we have got to teach our children the Genesis account of God performing the only surgery that brought a woman forth from a man God took a rib and he created a woman when you don't fear God you find yourself ensnared in the wrong system the kingdom of God demands this hour Fearless men who prioritize Their Fear of God above all else because when fear dominates your heart when you fear me and you unwittedly become upon in the Kingdom of this world remember as Jesus declared my kingdom is not of this world it's a different system altogether so the question I have for us tonight is do you have your family in the right system do you have kingdom of God be not conformed to this world but be in transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove that which is good acceptable and perfect will of God Our Generation needs more lion like men the aljc has a rich history of lion-like men who have paved the way for us Bishop Virgil Harris preached with fire and boldness his grandsons around here somewhere but he told you like it is he didn't care who was there and who was listening he preached with fire and boldness Bishop Jack Batson exemplified a healthy fear of God when you were around him you just knew that he had been having a discussion with his God he didn't shut it down when the service was over on Sunday he was back to praying likely before he got home that evening brother martin Batson you were telling me he's up 3 30 4 30 in the morning calling on his God give us more lions Pastor Russell Elkins stood unwavering never bowing his knee to the world never compromising on the apostolic Doctrine Bishop Reinhardt would say often the world will stand or excuse me the word of God will stand when the war when the world is on fire those Hebrew children who stood firm against the pressures of their time they preferred the fiery furnace while remaining loyal to their God rather than to bow to a secular form of worship Daniel to possess such a profound fear of God it blows my mind Daniel had a prayer life that he willingly chose to be among the lions with prayer rather than shut down prayer without the Lions that's a man walking in the fear of God Hugh black said this he said the fear of God kills all other fears how do we become the Fearless men that God wants us to be it's by having a deep bold fear and understanding of God that'll give you boldness like a lion I'm reminded of the Apostle Paul during that faithful incredible storm that destroyed the ship that was carrying him Paul had an incredible firmness he led with confidence he had a calm during the chaos that was remarkable the wind the rain the creaking of the boards beneath his feet the sound of Twisted wood and snapping Roots excuse me ropes and we read about it in Acts 27 and 22 he said and now I exhort you to be of good cheer for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you but of the ship and then he says this bishop Carpenter he said for there stood by me this night the angel of the Lord whose I am and whom I serve Paul exposed how he could be so bold in a storm he knew who he belonged to and the God he belonged to and he served loved him and would take care of him stand with me lift up your hands and your voices let's cry out to our God when you get that God is taking care of you oh motivation to fear is gone let me tell you what I shared I'm gonna close we're going to pray and then we're going to move on but let me tell you what I told our church this past Sunday Isaiah 41 and 10 says fear thou not three words it's non-negotiable oh I hope to get to that level someday brother you better get baptized in the fear of the Lord now and stop fearing everything else look at the book look what it says three words fear thou not anybody want to ask why for I am with thee be not dismayed the audacity to tell me that why for I am thy God I will strengthen Thee I will help Thee I will uphold thee with thy right hand with my right hand of righteousness I am your God hovering above you I am with you walking beside you I will strengthen you from the depths of your soul I will help you surrounding you from every angle when adversity may arise I will uphold you firmly supporting you from beneath he's above he's beneath he's beside he's inside I'm telling you that's how we are fearless that's how we have the faces of lions complete and Total Protection I believe God wants us to leave tomorrow with our face as the faces of lions ready to face life with the fear of God lastly before we pray Hebrews 13 and 5 and 6 let your conversation be without covetousness and be content with such things as you have for he hath said I will never leave thee nor forsake thee watch this so that we may boldly say is there any lions in this room tonight that will join their voice with me right now cause I know he's never left me I know he's never forsaken me so I can do verse six so that we may boldly say the Lord the Lord is my helper and I will not Bishop I will not fear one man shall do unto me lift your hands pray with me let's pray let's pray let's lift our voices bold as lions guide us o God in this time help us to understand the contrast between the kingdom and the system of the world help us this first night to get a deep genuine fear of God that it's instilled in our hearts that will tread the path of our elders and walk circumspectfully help us to walk and live priorities