Fearless Faith Versus Faithless Fear

Well, that was just beautiful, wasn't it? For we that are familiar with Fredlands, and some of you that have attended out there over the years, that is a hymn that is always very special to all of us. It reminds us of a fantastic deacon named Fred Richardson, who died four or five years ago. And any of you that ever knew Fred, you knew that he was the real deal, and that he had certain songs that were attached to him. And that was one of them. So whenever we hear two or three songs in the hymnal, we call them Fred songs, but they're really for all of us. Well, thank you very much. Several weekends ago, some of us had the opportunity to be at the beach in Oceanside during the San Diego Church family weekend. And it was during that time that we had the opportunity to have two baptisms. There's nothing like having baptisms at the ocean, and to be able to gather around in a circle and be able to see individuals commit themselves to Jesus Christ and to repent of their sins. And then to be able to go and walk out into the ocean with the elders, leading them going out there, and then watching from about 150 feet away, seeing one go down and one rise, then one go down and one rise, and all applauding on the beach. It was just a thrill. How many of you were there for that one? Can I see a show? Wasn't that neat? And to recognize how very, very special that was. I have to share a little story with you. For those that are watching the webcast, I want to share this with you. Please listen very, very carefully, because this is not our normal habit when our church gathers for baptisms. But what happened, one of the gentlemen was deaf. So he was out about 150 feet away from us. Deaf people cannot hear applause. So the way that you applaud in ASL is you go like this. Right, you've got it. You could have been there. Okay. And so what happened is, you've got to recognize we probably had hundreds of people behind us. They were there to enjoy the beach that day. And here's this church group. And all of a sudden, when the gentleman went down, there were about 80 people on the shore going like this. And so they probably thought they were at a Holy Roller Convention. But, you know, when in Rome, do as the Romans do, when you're dealing with somebody that is deaf, do as they do. And I think all of us will always remember how unique that was. The reason I bring this up is I begin by touching on baptism because baptism is such a central part and foundational part of our life. Because then everything begins to proceed from that outward confession of an inward profession. That we acknowledge that God has called us. That Jesus Christ is Lord. That we have repented of our sins. And that by the Holy Spirit, we're offered a new way of life. Those individuals that went out there just like you and me, what happens is we, following God's way of life, we believe in immersion. Full immersion. It comes from the Greek word. It explains that baptism. That means you go down. All the way down. And all of you.

All of us can remember our own baptism. And if not, I always like to rekindle, if I could, that moment in your life. But the one thing I want to share with you is simply this. That when we were baptized, we were not just simply baptized with facts and or knowledge or understanding that alone comes from booklets produced by man. It wasn't simply what we knew or what we know, but who we know and who we have chosen to follow. These individuals, like you and me, will grow in that understanding because there is a certain amount of appreciating and understanding what the Bible says and describes about baptism. But it's a growing understanding. And the one thing that I want to share with you and begin to develop in this message is simply this. That these individuals were not immersed in the ocean simply by what they did or by their works. But it was by God's grace, it was by God's design, and they were immersed. They were immersed in that sense in embracing a walk of faith, a way of life called a walk of faith that they said that they would do until that time of death or until the resurrection comes. God alone knows all of the curves and all of the dips, all the detours that lie ahead of us for His perfection to be met out in each and every one of us. The Apostle Paul describes that in 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7, if you'll join me for a second. In 2 Corinthians 5 and verse 7, let's take a look at it, where it's a simple phrase and yet profound, For we walk by faith, for we walk by faith and not by sight. That is the exact opposite of what human nature holds on to. How often have we heard, either from ourselves or from others, seeing as believing? Or, I'll believe it when I see it.

And or here's another one, a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush. All of our parents and our grandparents, or perhaps a favorite uncle, shared those lines that just become enmeshed in our thinking. But the Apostle Paul again speaks of a different lifestyle of walking by faith in Romans 1 verse 16. I'll leave you with me if you would there for a moment as we lay somewhat of a scriptural foundation before I begin to take you where I'd like to lead you in the course of this message. In Romans 1 and verse 16, in this great treatise regarding salvation, this is what Paul says, For in verse 16, I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, this good news that has been revealed to me. For it is the power of God to salvation for everyone, notice, everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek. For in it, in what? In this faith, in this belief. For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith. And as it is written, the just shall live by faith. Again, let's climb a ladder of scriptures to bring you to point in Romans 4. In Romans 4 and verse 2, building on what is mentioned in chapter 1. For if Abraham was justified by works, by that which he did by his own energy and by his own initiative and by his own hands. For if Abraham was justified by works or by what he did, he has something to boast about, but not before God. For what does the scripture say, that clarion blast that comes out of Paul's writings from time to time? And for what does the scripture say? Abraham believed God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. It was his belief that brought him to God, kept him in God's ways, keeps us in God's ways. This which is called belief, this is which is called faith. Let's talk about it for a moment. We often speak of Abraham being the father of the faithful. We think of Abraham probably living sometime around 1800-1900 BC, if I'm off 100 years, forgive me, but a long time ago. It wasn't easy then. It isn't easy 4000 years later. But Abraham did believe God and it was accounted to him for righteousness. It's never been easy. It's never been easy to be called of God and to go against the course of the flow of human history. Civilizations and time periods have a certain flow to them and a certain current. And it's always easier to go with the rest of the school of the fish, if I can use that analogy, and go downstream with everybody else. But when God calls us, he taps us and says, I want you to be my child. I want you to be my follower. As Jesus says, and John, I have chosen you, you have not chosen me to follow me. And it's never been easy. Let's talk about Abram for a second, his first name, before he developed further into faith. Just imagine what it was like when the flow and the power and the energy of history and civilization was going one way. And he was called to go another way. I've often used this analogy for you before. We that are Angelenos know what traffic is like. Am I talking to the right audience? Did you notice the 210 freeway coming in today?

And yet, at times, the Christian calls like everybody else. There's a traffic jam coming into town. And yet there's this lone vehicle all by itself going the other direction. And that's very much what happened to Abram at that time period with the great river valley civilizations of the Indus, of the Tigris, of Nile, of the Yellow River in China. Mankind was beginning to coagulate into these river valleys and beginning to develop civilization and beginning to develop cities. And God says, Get out! Get out, Abraham! Go! And I will show you and I will guide you. How difficult was that for Abraham when everybody else was doing it a different way?

Let's think about it just for a moment. You might want to jot these three points down that we're going to build upon in the course of this message. This man had a call from one that was called the One God. The One God. In a time when the flow of civilization and everybody else believed in many gods. In other words, if this one doesn't work, surely this one will. And whether it was on the Indus, whether it was on the Tigris, whether it was on the Nile, whether it was in the Yellow River, in the area that would become known as China, that there were many gods for many seasons for many reasons. Just like on your smartphones today. Some of you have a smartphone. And you have these different apps that are on those smartphones. And if one doesn't work, you go to the other one. You go, boom, boom, boom, boom. Just work those apps. And I'm not talking about this. I'm talking about on the smartphone. Well, that's how the ancient world was. They were working the system. If the sun god didn't work for them, then the river god worked for them. If the river god didn't work for them, then the man god, Pharaoh, worked for them. There were multiple gods. And here was one that said there is only one god. And that is whom I'm going to follow. Point number two. This god that Abram followed, not knowing necessarily where he was going to go, was a god not confined by what you held in your hand, but as Mr. Joseph had brought out in his message today, by what you held in your heart. How completely different than anything else in history. It was no longer having portable gods that you could stuff in your toga, or stuff in your skirt, or stuff in your pockets, or put in your bag, or put it on a camel. Taking your god from one place to another place, because you wanted your god there, because wherever he was, that was the limit of his power. But here was a man that did not confine god. In fact, he came to this revelation that there is one true god.

But by the way, you cannot see him. Hmm. But you can know him, and he is revealed by his creation. Point number three. Point number three was, Abram was called in faith to a god who needed nothing from us, nothing to sustain his existence. The gods of old continually had to be appeased, or they had to have food put on their altars as if the stone or the wood was hungry. They always wanted something from you, but here was a god, a one true god, a god that you could not put in a box, or sculpt in an idol, that didn't want anything of you other than you might believe in him, that you might believe in him, and to give us a gift, to give us a hope, to give you and me today here in Los Angeles a future, even when we don't see it clearly in front of us.

What was the price tag again? That we might believe. And because we do believe in him, we will strive to live up to what he is like. Now, why do I share this with all of you today? You always ask, well, what motivates a message? This message is motivated, as Susan and I go, from congregation to congregation. And sometimes we perhaps hear it from the pulpit, and sometimes we hear it in the aisles, or sometimes we might hear it over in the refreshing room, where we have our refreshments after services.

And the language or the message kind of goes like this. You may be worrying whether or not you're going to make it or not. And or we're in a talk or a chat or a counseling, and the individual comes back, I don't know if I can make it. I don't know if I will be there. I hope I can make it. I wonder if... And there's a challenge with all that, brethren, because what we're doing is we're looking at what we are doing, and where we are at, based upon our limited resources, looking at the works of our life, looking at the works of our hand, rather than believing that a good God, perfect in all nature and in all being, and in all attributes, has reached down into our time and said, I want you.

I will be your God. You will be a part of my people. And whatever I have begun, I will see it to the end. Now, please understand, all of us at one time or another have been there. Join me if you would for a second in Mark 9.24.

This statement almost screams out over the ages because all of us have been there at one time or another. It's the story of the man that has the son, and he's very, very desperate at this point. We know the story here where it's the young man that was throwing himself into the fire and was half crazy and was very challenged. And the father was just besides himself. And then in Mark 9.24 it says, immediately the father of the child...

No, let's go out to verse 23. And Jesus said to him, if you can notice, believe. All things are possible. All things are possible. Not half things. Not maybe things. Not like pulling petals. Maybe. Maybe not. Maybe. Maybe not. All things are possible to him who believes. And immediately the father of the child cried out and said with tears, Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief. This man caught in Scripture is us.

It's not our faith that gets us in trouble. It's our doubts that get in the way. And that's why I want to bring you this message today that is entitled simply, Fearless Faith versus Faithless Fear. Allow me to repeat it again. Because a lot of those words sound alike and we've got to get it right. Because in getting those words correct, it makes all the difference in how we walk by faith and not by sight.

The message is entitled Fearless Faith versus Faithless Fear. Now, before we tackle Fearless Faith, let's talk about Faithless Fear. And let's meet this subject of what is opposite faith, the subject of fear. Because we have to know what the challenge and what the enemy is before we allow the righteousness of God and the Spirit of the Father and the Spirit of the Son to work in us to overcome that which is, oh my, so very natural.

Now, some of you are out there probably saying, oh no, we're not going to have another fear sermon, are we? Because I don't need that. I am a brave Christian. So I'll wait till next week and maybe that sermon will apply to me.

Well, allow me for a moment to kind of maybe entangle you in a net as I offer some synonyms of fear. And if the shoe fits or if the fear fits, let's wear it for a moment, okay? Because it's only when we are real with ourselves, when we're real for ourselves and we look in the mirror, either in front of us or in our heart, that God can really begin to work with us. Here's some definitions of fear. And let's say some of these might fit you. What about timidity, anxiety, worry, care, apprehension, misgiving, mistrust, doubt?

Doubt. Why me? Why now? Suspicion, panic, care, misgiving, stampede. We can get a whole herd up of doubts and fears, and you're out there saying, well, that doesn't apply to me. I'm not scared today. Not at all. Brother, if you want to be honest, all of us at one time or another have had these challenges. I think all of us at one time or another have watched The Wizard of Oz sometime in our lifetime, and there's the cowardly lion. If I were the king of the forest, you know, you remember that one. You can see why I'm not in the Hymn Choir.

And he goes into courage. That's what I need. Courage! And then all of a sudden, his tail comes around him. He's scared to death. And he recognizes that he needs to get courage. And we kind of laugh at Bert Loehr from 60 years ago or 70 years ago now, where he plays the cowardly lion. And that tail comes around like that.

But all of us, even though we're not cast with MGM for the cowardly lion, we all, brethren, we have things attached to us that scare us to death sometimes, that distance us from the gifts of God. That's something that we think that we cannot surmount on our own, and we can't. And it is that that I would speak to all of you today about. Let's understand that fear is nothing new to humanity. It's important to go back to the very beginning. Join me, if you would, in Genesis 3 and verse 10. In Genesis 3 and verse 10. Right from the very beginning.

Notice what it says here in Genesis 3 and verse 10. This is after Adam and Eve had partaken of the fruit of the tree of good and evil. So he said, I heard your... verse 9. Then the Lord God called Adam and said, Where are you? And so he said, Adam speaking, I heard your voice in the garden. I was afraid because I was naked.

I had fear. I was afraid because I was naked and I hid myself. It's very interesting when you just look at that very small verse, you begin to understand the detriment of fear. Fear that is not tackled moves us into hiding. Fear that is not tackled distances us from God. Fear that is not tackled does not allow us to receive God's perfection because we're just simply looking at our own selves in the mirror and what we have done and what we are about.

We recognize that Adam, unfortunately, and Edith, unfortunately, modeled Satan. Modeled the serpent. You see, the serpent, you know, the book of James tells us that Satan and his demons believe. They do believe, but they do not obey. Adam and Eve knew that there was a God, but they did not obey. It's very interesting that when you think about going back into time, that moment before Satan let his coup against God, what was that driven by?

It was driven by fear. It was driven by that somehow he and those that followed him, and part of that angelic realm, somehow, were going to be left out of the loop of opportunity that God somehow, his purpose was not going to be beneficial to them, that somehow God didn't know or had forgotten them, so they were going to take matters into their own hands. So Satan rebelled, and a third of the angels rebelled out of what? Yes, pride. That's what the book of Ezekiel tells us. But also, out of fear, out of being left out of the loop of opportunity, out of thinking that somehow God at one time was in your life, but now has left you behind, and that his purpose is no longer.

With that thought in mind, let's share a thought with you, please. Let's understand that fear is not just something that you keep in your heart, it's not just something that you keep down deep. You think, oh, I'll put it under a bushel, and nobody will recognize it, and it won't impact anybody else. When you look at some of the interesting stories of fear in the Bible, let's think of Cain for a moment. Fear can leave a noticeable mark. Fear, and being left out of the loop of opportunity, thinking that God no longer had a purpose for him, Cain murdered his brother.

Out of fear, that turned into anger, that turned against God. God put a mark on him. Sometimes you can see people, and you know they're trying to hold it, but there's something about them that goes before them, that is in them, that marks them, and you know that you're dealing with a worried individual. It's very interesting in Africa, when the bush hunters go into the bush to hunt a lion, they will actually do all the banging, and then finally they get the lion in a certain area, right?

And then what they do, they circle the lion. And there might be 15 to 16 individuals that are circling the lion to get him in a circle and to capture him. I have a question for you. What does the lion look for?

What is his escape? Because he's in a circle. The lion doesn't have to deal with 18 individuals, it just has to deal with the individual in which it smells fear. And it is that individual that the lion sees his pathway to safety and to boost out. Fear does leave a mark. Again, what about Saul?

Sometimes you think, well, I'll just keep my fears to myself and they won't affect anybody else. Fear that does not go treat it, ultimately will lash out at others. Just think of King Saul. When he found out that the kingdom in that sense had been taken away from him, he took that spear, that javelin, and he threw it at David. He lashed out. Fear that goes untreated will only affect the lives of others and being lashed out.

What about the example of Moses? Moses had a different kind of fear. Moses was thinking what he would do or could do or couldn't do. When God called him to be an instrument to go back and challenge Phariseh, he said, excuse me, you just don't understand. I'm slow of speech. I haven't been around the court in a long time. And he began giving God a list of why God had made a mistake with him and what he couldn't do based upon his works, based upon his human ability, rather than recognizing that the I AM was going to rescue his people from Egypt. Fear is not always explosive. Fear also goes a different direction and it can implode.

Fear can lead us into depression. It can move us into dark spots. It can move us out of the vein of why God has called us, that all might know that there is a God. Think of Elijah. Elijah on Mount Carmel, the divine fire comes down. There's toasted priests. But after that event, he said, oh no, that woman is still out there, Jezebel. And what Elijah does is he has an emotional cave and actually puts himself in a cave.

He's in the dark. He's in the cave. God does not call his people to be in a cave. God invented caves for bats and mushrooms, but not for his people that are made after his image and after his likeness. The people that were baptized to walk the walk of faith. So we see what the fear scenario can develop. Now let's move from faithless fear to fearless faith and understand the example that our Savior gave us. Join me if you would in John 16 33.

In John 16 33, on that evening, the last night of our Savior's human existence, he was thinking about you and me down to this time, not just the twelve that were with him in that room that night, but knowing that these verses would come down to us in a different time, in a different age. These things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace.

Other versions will say, let not your heart be troubled, that you might have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer. That doesn't mean to be a Pollyanna. That doesn't mean to be an ostrich with your head stuck in the sand, exposing the rest of you in a very precarious situation. But to walk by faith, not by sight, knowing that our God, your God, my God, our common Heavenly Father, will answer at the right time and in the right way and never be late. Sometimes as human beings we spell late. D-E-A-T-H. But Scripture tells us God, through Christ, owns both worlds, owns both life and death.

When you own both life and death, our God can never be late. That's why the prayer that we offered up earlier is a congregation to God regarding our friends in Australia. His perfection is known but to Him. Our human wants, our human desires are all well and fantastic. And we would pray that prayer. But in all of this we do leave it, indeed, to God. 1 John 4. John, who was in that room that night, perhaps up to 50 years later, penned these words of why it is so important to believe. Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in Him and He in God. And we have known and believed the love that God has for us.

God is love. Total, outflowing, outgoing concern away from self. He does not need to be sustained. He is. Uncreated. Yet, all-knowing, all-powerful, all-wise, all-present, most importantly, all-loving. And He who abides in love abides in God and God in Him. Love has been perfected among us in this, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment. Because as He is, so are we in this world. Notice friends here in Los Angeles and those that are watching the webcast, they watch this message in the future.

There is no fear in love. But perfect love cast out fear. The kind of love that we heard from Mr. Josephic today in his message, regarding that God's love is not only about Him forgiving us, but through us forgiving others. Because it says that there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. Because fear involves torment. But He who fears has not been made perfect in love.

So how do we learn this kind of love that moves us away from fear? It says here, we love Him because He first loved us. Brother in Los Angeles and those that are listening, God Almighty and His Son Jesus Christ have always wanted us to walk by faith. I want to show this by going right to the beginning of a Gospel in Mark 1. Join me if you would there, please, in Mark 1. In Mark 1, and let's pick up the thought if we could, please, in verse 14.

In Mark 1, 14. It says, Jesus then was coming into Galilee. In Mark 1. Actually, up in verse 14. Pardon me. Now, after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee. Notice, preaching the Gospel, which means the good news of the Kingdom of God, and saying, these are the words then of Jesus of Nazareth, the time is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent! Repent! And believe in the Gospel. That takes faith. And that takes a gift that comes from God. As it says in Romans 8, 14, for as many as are led by the Spirit of God.

They are the sons of God. And God begins working with our hearts and our minds to reveal Himself to us. But it's not just an event, it's a journey, brethren, and God's going to continue to reveal Himself at much deeper steps along the way. How many of you have ever been to the rim of the Grand Canyon? Can I see a show of hands? Okay. You know, when you come up against that canyon, you're right at the ledge and you go, ooh, ooh, ooh. And then you get to the rim, you push the kids back, then you get to the rim and you start looking down.

And we've all been there before. Are you with me? Ready for this little journey down the canyon? You look down, you go, wow! Then you notice there's even more and you look down, and then you look down and you just kind of go in stages and stages and stages. And we all know that the Colorado River is down there somewhere. Then finally you see this little, little stream of blue at the bottom. You see a part of it, then it goes beyond a ridge. And that's how faith is. It's something that you keep exploring. You keep on going down and deeper and deeper and deeper.

Our faith in God, and He knows this, we're human beings. He knows that we have to get our doubts out of the way and get His faith underneath our spiritual feet. But believing in God, it starts at a point, it starts at a beginning, but it's not just an event. It's not just an event. It's a journey. It's not just an event. It's an experience. It's not just a fossil that God kind of puts into us like we put a DVD into a machine and play it.

It's something that grows and it expands and it develops and takes a life of itself in us as God continues to work and to tickle our mind and to tickle our heart and to fill us with His Spirit. But He doesn't do that in a vacuum. It says to repent and to believe. There are two great twin conditions of baptism. God says, first of all, you've got to be like a brahman.

You've got to turn your back on Ur of the Chaldees. And you just can't stand still. Repentance is not just standing still. God does not work and avoid. Satan does work and avoid. God does not. So as we, in that sense, turn around then... I'll start over here. Here's Ur. As we turn around and we lay Babylon or we leave Ur or we leave our life as it is in 2016, we turn around and we've got to start moving. But we move differently now. Not by our steps, but as Jesus Christ said, follow me with the steps of your heart one by one.

And that can be a challenge. Humanly, that can be scary. Humanly, we can sit on the bench with that Father who had the Son that Jesus healed. And we can be there and simply say, I believe. Help thou my unbelief. And that's why I'm giving this message.

Now, one thing I want to share with all of you, and it's a maxim that I've used before that... But it's very, very true that God cannot use fear. Fear cannot be perfect in love. Didn't we just do that through 1 John?

God cannot use fear. No matter how great fear is, God cannot use fear. God cannot use fear. This world, this society, this age of Babylon is motivated by fear.

But God can use faith. No matter how small, just like a mustard seed. God can use faith. And maybe that's where some of us are today. Maybe we just didn't even know that we were going to come into church today. We wanted to stay home. We just didn't want to be with people. We didn't want to hear one more word out of the Scripture because somehow we feel like we can't make it.

We can't do it. But God's Spirit drew you here to hear this message today. See, somebody long ago, I forget who said it, but they put it this way. Courage is fear that lasts a moment longer. And God has called us to allow His Spirit to flow through us, the righteousness of Christ to be in us, and the power of faith to motivate us to see beyond that, which we can't see for the moment. That's the hardest thing in the world to do. How do we begin that? Join me if you wouldn't Psalm 46 and verse 10. In Psalm 46 and verse 10, let's take a peek at how we begin. In Psalm 46 and verse 10, my mother-in-law's favorite verse, Susan's mom, Be still and know that I am God.

Be still for a moment. And isn't that what the Sabbath day is all about, too? That God just says, I'm going to command you to rest in a world that will not stop.

And maybe our soul, maybe our heart, maybe our fears are restless within us, that has constipated that faith that God wants to motivate us by. And that's why He gives us the Sabbath. That's why He calls us to open His Word and to hear the words of God. Be still. It's not about you. It's about me that I might be exalted in the earth. And the Lord of Hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our refuge.

So, brethren, we've made that same call that Abram did. We started on this journey.

But God's not going to tell us about everything that's on the journey. It's like a GPS.

You fix all your GPS. I'm here. I'm going there. And then you get the voice. Take a left, take a right, take a left, take a right. I've had at least two people that have put smart people, too.

Worked their GPS, and they get lost on a dirt road out in Riverside County, of which there are many.

And then they have to go by another means, get a hard map, and find it. But what God does when He calls us, He says, I'm calling you out of this world, and I'm going to prepare you. I'm going to mold you. I'm going to shape you for eternity.

I'm going to take you out of this society, and I'm going to begin to work with you. But He doesn't work with us by putting us on a pillow couch. You don't gain faith by lifting little weights that don't create muscle.

Always be careful what you ask for. If you say, well, God, I believe, help thou my unbelief.

Recognize that if you pray that prayer, then God is going to create situations for you to develop the muscle of faith.

It doesn't just happen like a goose, where like the old goose where you feed the goose, where you pour the grain down, the goose is a gullet, and it gets fatter and fatter. We don't get fatter and fatter on faith just because we ask for it. We are going to be put in situations where all of a sudden the ground is not going to be quite what we're used to.

And we're going to want to take matters in our own hands.

It might be in a marriage. It might be on the job. It might be something happening in school. It might be something in the neighborhood.

It might be in that greatest battleground that lies between our human ears that you and I alone know about.

But when we ask God for something, know that He's going to create the situation for us to stand still and know that He is God.

And know that what is placed before us is not going to be solved by our human works, but by faith in Him.

And allow patience to have its perfect work.

And to surrender our reach.

To surrender our voice. To surrender our thoughts.

And give it to Him. And watch Him then go to work. Not on our time schedule, but in His perfection. Join me if you would in Job 42. Here is a man that was a man of faith. A man that was in the way.

His story is plastered right in the middle of the Bible because it's about our journey of faith too, brethren.

And it's the story of Job. In Job 42, join me there for a moment.

Here is a man that's seemingly quote-unquote being human, but we say, oh, you've got to be kidding me.

Here's the guy that did everything right. The adversary would even say, there's nobody just like your servant Job. But through 42 chapters, everything happened to this man. He lost his family, lost his real estate, lost his health, covered with boils.

Chapter 42, verse 1, then God answered the Lord and said, I know that you can do everything and that no purpose of yours can be withheld from you.

You asked, who is this who hides counsel without knowledge?

Therefore, I have uttered that what I did not understand. Frankly, things that were too wonderful for me, which I did not know.

Listen, please, and let me speak. You said I will question you and you shall answer me.

I've heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you. Therefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ashes.

After 42 chapters, are you with me, friends? Job finally got God.

I've often said in years past that hopefully it doesn't take us 42 chapters, but we always think our story is going to be a little bit different than everybody else before us.

And then we recognize sometimes it takes 42 chapters.

Job came to a point that he wasn't fully going to understand everything in this lifetime.

Everything in this lifetime that he had wanted wasn't going to add up.

One plus one was not going to equal two.

God had a greater purpose.

And maybe the purpose for Job was for all of us to understand nearly 4000 years down the line that you and I have got to leave some things to God.

We want God's perfect will and perfect touch in us, sometimes humanly speaking.

As much as the Canaanites of old wanted to have a portable God in their hands, something that they could carry around with them and always be safe.

I've got it right here. And nothing's going to happen to me. Nothing's going to happen to anybody that I love.

I'm always going to have a job. I'm always going to have money.

Since I've been baptized, everything is going to be up, up, up. I won't have to face my humanity again. And so you hold it like this.

But, brethren, neither God in nature or God in his perfection for each and every one of us, the same God that owns both worlds of life and death, can be boxed in by how we think he ought to perform.

God is not a trained chimp, and he's not a trained seal. He's not a movie lot animal that is trained, and then behind the scenes we feed him when he's done well for us.

Like the Jews of old came to understand, we've got to leave some things for God and his perfection.

And then we don't worry. How many of you remember, here in Pasadena area especially, any of you remember Garth Wardrob? Can I see a show of hands?

Let me tell you about Garth Wardrob. He was a member of ours in the Pasadena days. Garth was a very bright and intellectual gentleman, fascinating to talk to, and we'll talk to you into the night.

But Garth was an individual that had a sight until he was age 3, and then he lost his sight. He lived the blind life.

He didn't live the blind life in Nebraska or South Dakota, where there's more wheat than people. He lived the blind life here in Pasadena, and I can only think of how busy a royal parkway is at the Del Mar intersection, if you've ever been there.

Oftentimes, I would be driving around Pasadena either on business or to go visit somebody, and lo and behold, a mile or two or three miles away from the campus, there would be Garth.

Here was Garth, and you would know it as we've seen all blind people. He'd be going like this with his cane. I'm not doing that in all respect, but he'd have the red and white cane, and he'd either know that he's going down into a curb, or he's coming up to a curb, or he might be coming up to an office.

I was one time called over to anoint Garth, and probably the most faithful thing I did is that I went into an apartment full of bachelors living to themselves. That can be a scary thing. That's a work of faith. A bunch of men living by themselves. But then I knew that Garth was in bed, and so I came up to his bedroom. There was something that we always have those, do we dare call them, aha moments? And there was an aha moment. And above Garth's door to his bedroom was a bumper sticker. And I know bumper stickers have limited wisdom, but this one has always stuck with me. Garth simply said, Worry is a responsibility that God has not given me. Here's a man that every day of his life, as he went downstairs from the second floor down in the streets of Pasadena, should have been more worried than anybody else. But with that wisdom of God in mind, he was able to take those butterflies that were in him and put them into formation and live as long as he could. I went to anoint Garth years later. Garth had cancer in his back. And when I went to anoint him in the hospital, his days were numbered. But I remember leaning over to Garth because I wanted to say thank you, Garth, because you changed my life that time that I came over to anoint you. And even what you're going through right now, we will go through it together and God will certainly be there for you. But I want you to remember what you taught me. Worry is a responsibility that God has not given me. You see, brethren, worry is homegrown in the fields of our heart. Worry is something that is earthbound. It is not heaven-sent. My question simply to you today, as one Christian to another, is simply this. What are you holding in your heart? What are you holding in your mind that God says that He has not sent your way? We are either of God or not. Anger, fear is not of God. The love of God shed abroad in our hearts cannot be perfected in the pot of fear. It cannot be perfected in the pot of anger. It cannot be perfected in the pot that says somehow I have been left out of the loop of opportunity. Let's begin to conclude, brethren. 2 Corinthians 12. Quickly. 2 Corinthians 12.

I have a fear that I can't find it. Oh, you! 2 Corinthians 12. Here's Paul, a seasoned spiritual traveler on that walk of faith. But there was something that had happened in that famous challenge of the thorn in the flesh. Paul says, lest I be exalted above, in verse 7, measured by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure. And we do not know what it was. Some think it was a man. Some think it was an adversary. Others think it was something in his... We just simply don't know. If we stay on that, we could be here till the moon comes up. And if we do, we're losing the point. Concerning this thing, I plead it with the Lord three times. Here's a man that wrote all of these epistles that have challenged and motivated us 2,000 years down the line. And he prayed, and he pleaded three times that it might depart from me. Because it was probably hindering him from his mission that God had given him in his mind.

And he said to me, my grace, speaking of God, my grace is sufficient for you. My favor, my intervention. You, knowing that I exist, and that I am yours and you are mine, and that I have paved a way of salvation for you and all people, both the Jew and the Gentile, and all humanity coming to me through Christ. That alone is sufficient, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, most gladly, I will rather boast in my infirmities that the power of Christ may rest upon me. And therefore, I take pleasure in infirmity and in approaches in those things that I don't fully understand right now.

In those things that perhaps I wish would go away as of yesterday, and in needs and in persecutions and distresses, for notice, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. When we recognize that it is not by our human ability, by our human works, but by the intervention of God in our lives. And we surrender our will and all of our doings and all of our beings and all of our IQ, and say it is nothing. It is but zero. And Father, I need your help. Christ, I need your help. I want to believe. Help thou my unbelief.

Brethren, here in Los Angeles, those that may be listening, God has not called us. God did not send His Son for us to stand on the foundation of faithless fear.

He has called you and me by His grace and by His Spirit, His essence, His presence, abiding in us to live and walk the walk of faith. You say, I don't know if I can wait for that. Well, we need to get on to God's way of doing things.

I want to share and just read very briefly a paragraph. It's one of my favorite sayings. It's on my desk. You see, brethren, we all have to be reminded. I'm reminded every day by words like Garth's bumper sticker or by that which is in front of me, because all of us have been called to take the hand of God. All of us have been called to walk in the footsteps of Jesus Christ. And this is from the New Year's broadcast back in the 30s, King George VI.

And notice the last line. Our fears are premature. In Him, all time, hath full provision. That's what those two individuals said a couple of weeks ago as they went into the waters of the Pacific Ocean. They began. It was an event. Now it's a journey. It's not just an event. It's an experience. As the Apostle Paul says, from faith to faith. As we hear of the example of our dear departed brother, Garth Ward-Robb, let us, in that sense, be still. Let us, in that sense, know that there is a God. And let us, friends here in Los Angeles, let us not walk by sight, but walk by faith. Look forward to seeing you after service.