Finding Security in God's Love Amid Insecurity
Devotional
Sermon Summary
Sermon Clips
"on and it's it's terrifying when I see preachers get up at every funeral and go oh he's in a better place she's in a better place first of all how's that even possible when the road is wide that leads to destruction and many go through it and the way is narrow and few and yet at every funeral they're in a better place it just doesn't make sense it's not logical and so I want to be careful of that I also want to be careful" [00:20:17]
"because for those of you who think because there may be a voice in your head had saying life is miserable the future looks hopeless and you can escape it all by taking your life right now that is so demonic that is not an escape like I said the moment it happens you stand before a terrifying God and if you thought your problems here on Earth were massive our biggest problem is God our biggest problem is we come to the end now we can be saved and I'll talk" [00:20:53]
"about that in a second but I I just want to get in your head that if you have any thought of Escape because this is so prevalent today because the Bible says there are cosmic Powers over this present Darkness why are so many people thinking about ending their lives because there's a cosmic power that is putting these ideas in people's heads that it's going to be better it's going to be better just end it it's going to be better it's getting in some of your heads and I'm just" [00:21:46]
"telling you guys that is so from the pit of Hell and there isn't a guarantee that it's going to be better it could be a million times worse and eternal and so think about that the reality that it would take you into a desperation that does not end having said that let me just make clear the Bible says there's only one imperdonable sin it's not suicide it's blasphemy of the holy spirit in context it seems like when God does a a miracle that was clearly like like they're of the Holy Spirit and" [00:22:18]
"people were saying that was not of God that was of Satan and that's in the context of when Jesus talks about the unpardonable sin it's like wait I don't know what else I can do for you the Holy Spirit just showed you a flat out miracle that you cannot deny you know it's miraculous and you choose to attribute that to Satan rather than the Holy Spirit he's like that's just unforgivable that's the only thing so biblically we can't say oh everyone who takes their life is in hell now we can't take we can't say that biblically what I'm warning against is the opposite" [00:23:09]
"extreme of that which he or she's always in a better place when the Bible says you'll know a tree by its fruit somehow there's got to be a way where we we just talk directly about these things and the Bible does say we have to look at our own lives and look at the fruit of Our Lives um so with the situation I'm just begging those of you that have been influenced demonically God brought you here for a reason and everything could change today he really can change I mean you when I look at who Bill and Ry are today if you told me 30 years ago that" [00:24:35]
"that they would be the way they are today I would be like there's no way there is no way they were a mess oh Rhonda was such a hot mess oh you were and to see her now I'm like what the heck who is she like there was just this this change that just just happened and she just became more and more beautiful and just sensitive to the spirit and became this amazing mom and this woman of God and everything else it's like whoa you know it just and and the the hopelessness uh of their marriage from the start like it was just I I you know I mean I still remember I mean it was" [00:25:04]
"one of the few times I felt like physically threatened you know by his brother-in-law you know was in my like right here like he's talking in my face spits coming under my face this big redneck I guess you're all rednecks but you know back back there you know Southern California not everyone was a redneck but you so I was like whoa this guy is in my face and you're like you're telling me Billy can't divorce that witch and I'm like yeah yeah I think that's what the Bible says don't hit me you know it was just crazy and now I'm like oh my gosh like I said I don't trust anyone like I trust them and so I don't wherever your life is today you" [00:25:54]
"need to know you're you're being shepherded by leaders that God has absolutely transformed their lives and that should give you hope for your relationships no matter how desperate you're feeling about life about relationship you're in great hands here and uh kind of went off on a tangent there but uh you know whenever I go into a a room full of people I just know that there's some crazy circumstances in your life and some of you are near the end and there have been too many times when I walked on a stage and I just wasn't aware of it and I was oblivious to it and we want to take this time to stay in the house of morning not to pretend like nothing happened this week not to just move on with" [00:26:32]
"life and just go okay let me look at myself you know there's a there's a really interesting passage in um in Luke chap 13 uh a tragedy happens um where this Tower falls on these people so so in uh verse 14 um well we'll start at verse one of uh Luke 13 He says there were some present at that very time who who told him about the galileans whose blood pilate had mingled with their sacrifices so so pilate basically killed these people and and so then Jesus answered them do you think that these galileans were worse Sinners than all the other galileans because they suffered in this way no I tell you but unless you repent you will all likewise perish then he says or those 18 on whom the tower in Sal fell and killed them do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem no I tell you but unless you" [00:28:01]
"repent you will all likewise perish just take that second one so they're standing around a tower falls down 18 people died and so they go to Jesus they're like why those 18 were those the 18 that God wanted to kill right then because the people that just were missed by the tower were more spiritual and Jesus is this what you're thinking he goes first of all your answer to that is no that is not why those people died but then he doesn't really give an answer not the answer they were looking for all he says is but if you don't repent you too will perish why' he do that these guys wanted answers and his only answer was worry about yourself unless you repent you're going to perish too he he kind of twist because in the church sometimes we just want to talk about situations and and kind of go oh I wonder if it's because of this I wonder if it's because of this I wonder if it's because of this and we don't deal with our own issues we love to talk about other people's issues and try to figure it out for them and what Jesus is saying is like hey look at your own life unless you repent you too will perish and that's what I want us to do today is just look at our own lives and and not try to evaluate and have a bunch of Bible studies on what what really happened in this situation but to just start looking at our lives and going look the reality is this could be your last day and so there's nothing more important then for you to to be confident I mean truly not giving the church yes oh yeah I'm know I'm going to heaven but really know that from your heart because I am convinced that many of you in this room are still insecure about death even though you say I know I'm going to heaven you'll say that because you know that's the right answer but it's not really coming from the core of your soul seriously and you may be 95% sure but is that really what you want when it comes to Eternity like forever and either torment or blessing and you're okay with 95% because I'm not and I'm going to share something that I don't I don't know that I I may have shared publicly apart from my own church but when I was 50 so I'm 57 now when I was 50 I told my wife I don't want a party can we just get a bunch of friends church members over and just have a prayer Gathering a worship time and so we gathered a bunch of people over and and I just told them I said look the only present I want from you is I want you to pray for me and here's what I want you to pray pray I'm still insecure I I'm like 90% sure that if I were to die I'd go to heaven that was confusing for people wait you're Francis Chan didn't you don't you preach to Millions haven't you written all these books that we all read and you were insecure you're not sure of your salvation yeah cuz I was reading I was reading in first John back then and and that that passage in first John which is I've I've learned to love this passage it's beautiful to me I mean just a week ago or two I I was reading it going gosh what I Love Your Heart In this passage but remember reading it and it says this in 1 John 4:16 it says so we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us God is love and whoever abides in love abides in God and God's abides in him by this is love perect perfected with us so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment because as he is so also are we in this world there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear for fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not been perfected in love man I know what I'm supposed to say as the preacher yeah so this is what you guys need to work on you know because I love God and I know when I die I'm going to heaven but when I read that I was like okay I'm like 90% there some days 80 some days 70 and he says if I had perfect love it casts out all fear and it's in the context of having confidence for the day of judgment the day when I die or Christ returns and I'm standing before him we have a god this is this is why it's so beautiful me I have a father in Heaven this is say I don't want you afraid of that at all I want to have a perfect love relationship with you to where there's no zero fear just like I have seven children I would hate if any of them felt insecure in my love and I'm sure they do at at moments at times maybe even Seasons but it breaks my heart it's like what can I do to let you know that I love you and I'll do anything for you this is the heart of a father and he doesn't want any insecurity you got to know I give my life for you I do whatever for you and and that's our God he's saying look this is what I want for you children I want to have a perfect relationship with you so you have absolute confidence on that day yes I understand I am a holy God and everyone who sees me freaks out falls on their faces but I also want you to have this confidence in my love to where it cast out all fear and if I was and I had to stand honestly before the people I shephered and said look there's still some insecurity in here I don't have perfect love pray that my love would be perfected I still think about stuff I did 30 years ago and still feel the the shame of it how is that these demonic thoughts of he can't love you after that it's in there I want perfect love you guys pray for that and they prayed they had set up a calendar where someone was fasting all day every day for the rest of the year to pray for me my insecurity because when I read the Bible you see the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3 he's talking to the Ephesians who he says man I've seen your faithfulness and everything else but for this reason I bow my knees before the father he goes and I pray that according to the riches of his glory he would Grant you strength in your inner being by the holy spirit so that Christ May dwell in your heart through faith that you being rooted and grounded in love may have Str to comprehend together with all the saints how wide and long and high and deep and to know the love of God that surpasses comprehension so the Apostle Paul is saying to these Believers I'm on my knees praying that the love of Christ would actually take root in you live in you and you would know how much he loves you how wide long high and deep I'd like somehow that so Paul's on his knees begging for this why because you don't teach us he goes it's the love of Christ I want you to know know it and it's beyond comprehension in Romans 5:5 he says God pours his love into your hearts there's some Supernatural interaction that takes place it's not through another class not saying classes are bad or Bible studies are bad they're just not sufficient they're essential necessary NE AR but not sufficient there's something that is only done through the power of the Holy Spirit and prayer where those of us who have been rejected our whole lives suddenly like some of you grew up the way I did or similar where when I was born my mother died so my dad resented me and did not want me and gave me up for adoption cuz I'm the one that killed his wife just the fact that I was put on this Earth he lost his wife through it so he didn't want to see me set up an adoption before the other lady could take me who was going to adopt me my grandmother my aunt stole me away took me to Hong Kong where I grew up but my grandma got too old to take care of me and I was a handful and by the time I was five she forced my dad to take me back you find this stuff out later in life and then it all starts to make sense oh that's why you treated me so different that's why you tied me to a tree and beat the hell out of me every time I did something wrong you never wanted me that's why you never once talked to me that's why on the day of your death when I was 12 years old I was relieved and what the Bible says is you don't take a kid like that and just re-educate them something Supernatural happens where he says I'll actually put my spirit into the center of your soul to where you cry out ABA father even though you've never felt the love of a dad somehow I can miraculously put it in you and now you're secure and you know how wide and long and high and deep and somehow I can heal you of all of that stuff that doesn't come from clever speeches or great sermons look the word of God is necessary but there has to be something that happens inside of you and that's what my church prayed for their pastor and things began to change and I can't explain it cuz that's the way our God works that for those of you who youve never really been secure it's never been about this love relationship and enjoying him that can change and I even know I could God showed me a couple years ago where a lot of the insecurities started because when I first fell in love with Jesus in high school I was Totally Secure like God healed me I loved him I was on my high school campus preaching about him there was such a a piece about it I'm still working you know working through all my sin issues and all that and but man I was Secure in my walk with the Lord and everything was great then I went to Bible college and that messed me up um not saying it was the college's fault but in college they were preaching something that I still believe to this day which is lordship salvation like Jesus must be the Lord of your life and I read the scripture go well duh of course look at what Jesus says you you can't even follow me unless you hate your father mother wife kids you got to deny yourself pick up your cross for I I get it of course he's Lord he even says why do you call me Lord Lord when you don't do what I say so I I I believe H how else could we receive him just as Savior oh can you stop being king for a while because I want to accept you into my heart as just savior but not as king and not as Lord it didn't make any sense so I still believe that 100% but here's where it can spiral you and this is what God opened my eyes to I still remember being in the dorm with some friends one of them was a girl I was dating not nearly as great as you Lisa um but I remember her bringing up at one point going she goes do any of us really know if Jesus is Lord Of Our Lives I mean isn't that just really we won't know until we die and we all just kind of nodded our heads I look back I go that is horrible you have a group of Bible college students who are now sitting around going I'm not sure if he's Lord of every area of my life if he's really Lord why did I look at pornography this week if he's Lord then why was I messing around with this girl why was I staring at her why why you know why do I still hate him why do I just always talk about myself if he's really Lord Of My Life why am I afraid to be a missionary and give up my life you you start evaluating which you're looking at all these areas of your life and you're going o maybe he's not Lord of that area maybe he's not Lord of that area maybe he's not that Lord of that area and and then you finally come to the conclusion I guess I won't really know until I die and then he'll tell me whether or not he was really Lord of my life and and then either I go to heaven or I go to hell so you live your entire life constantly looking at your action wondering am I going to make it is it good and then it's like wait where's Grace in all of this we were just trained to stare at our actions to look at everyone else's actions judge them for their actions I mean we were just Infamous for judging everyone you know they're not real Believers they're not real Believers they're not real Believers and then we're looking at oursel constantly going are you a real believer I I don't know I don't know I don't know and then there's something nice about that because what it does is it gets it it causes like this character change not character behavioral change because now it's like if you're all insecure then you're like I better stop looking at porn because I might go to hell I might and it changes your action and there was some sort of I don't know ends justifies the means type of thing in and we were always looking at ourselves and judging ourselves judging others and we weren't staring at the cross the love of Christ became something that oh you already learned that that's Elementary now let's move on to these other things and I hate that I spent my life preaching about other things and not preaching about the mercy of God the grace of God the love of God I hate that I spent so much of my life evaluating my own actions rather than praising him for his and some of us that are naturally critical of ourselves it just takes you down a spiral that Satan wants you to go down and then pretty soon you find yourself insecure fearful and you're out of the this perfect love that he wants and again hear me clearly I believe he needs to be Lord Of Our Lives but there's got to be a way that we can hold that truth and yet focus and dwell on the grace of God and his love for us and this perfect love and for that to DW that's what Paul's getting on his knees for not for lordship but he goes I want the Lord to dwell abide I want you to know how wide and long and high and deep I want you to be rooted in the in the love of God and he's talking to mature Believers I want them dwelling on the love of God because you have a God that wants you to feel secure knowing what he did for you on the cross that he paid for all of that meanwhile like I said there demonic influences and they're going to get you thinking about anything other than the grace of God and before you know it you're actually trying to work your way to Heaven by making him Lord and working harder to make him Lord rather him truly dwelling in you abiding in you you're enjoying each other this is what the garden was it's Adam and Eve walking with their God this is what the Eternal state is in Revelation at the very end it's like and I'm going to be with them I'm going to walk with them again and this is what he wants of us now for many of us Christianity was like a belief system that we grew up in and we just agreed to believe in certain things but it wasn't a real marriage a love relationship or even through the hardest times you bond together as husband and wife and you get through it again because there's just this history this relationship and for some of you who haven't had that with Jesus you're like that prodigal son trying to go back and you're sitting there going I well maybe he'll let me be his slave I've screwed up so much maybe he'll just barely let me into his house but as a slave and what does the father say no you're not going to be my slave get over here you put a ring on your finger I want to have a celebration for you give you some new clothes I want to celebrate and some of us just feel so dirty yeah you know I just did a wedding last week and as a as a bride started walking up and I'm I'm thinking about the groom I I stand with the groom and they're always like wow amazing you know like ah you know such a beautiful thing you know remember I did Bill and ronda's wedding and you know after he proposed to her at HomeTown Buffet um oh did I don't know if you all knew that but that was like wow you're real classy guy and uh he I'm going to tell you all his Secrets but uh there's just that moment where the groom's like oh she's so beautiful and I thought'd do I believe that about God that he looks at me as the bride do you believe that about yourself that Jesus did such an amazing work in you and cleanse you that you could walk in white and he is waiting for this marriage supper waiting he say he it's it's like a blessing to him is the death of one of his Saints like he's just waiting to to see Francis and go and look at me and go he's so beautiful this is the day I dreamt of see this is what God wants of us that's why he doesn't make this a contract a belief system he goes husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church he goes I want you to see it in marriage like this is this is what I want this Song of Solomon this love relation relationship he goes do you understand that I desire you like like marriage is a shadow everything you've ever loved here on the earth it's a shadow it's a glimpse I wanted you to taste love CU I wanted you to know that there's a wedding coming and this is what I feel about you and I'm waiting for you and I really did something so beautiful that you're beautiful to me now because of what Christ did on the cross I wasn't enjoying any of that cuz I just kept staring at my dirt I kept staring at my failures I kept wondering if he was Lord enough of my life there's got to be some way that we can walk in Total Security alongside the truth of Jesus is Lord and so I really didn't didn't really come to preach to you I mean it's a totally different sermon from first service I think this one's better if you're going to post one do this one but uh I really believe something happened in me when my church started praying for me and I can't explain it it just happens and it's not overnight but it happens and your heart changes that's why he says he pours the love of Christ into your heart you can't physiologically physiologically explain that you can't intellectually explain that it's that miracle and there is something about the casting out of demonic thoughts that we can't ignore it there's a dark force on this Earth and it's leading people to destruction so I didn't come here to preach I came here with the hope that I could literally pray come before the Throne of God the throne of grace here's the thing here's the thing it hit me just a few weeks ago I was in New Zealand preaching and it hit me like the Bible says God is rich in Mercy that means he's like dying to forgive someone that's why the cross makes sense so that's why you want to so much because inside of who you are the Lord the Lord a god merciful and gracious like this is who he is it wasn't like at a moment he decided to show Mercy it's like he he's got to get it out of like that's who he is he's rich in Mercy he's overflowing so it hit me I'm like wait I've got all these young people coming in a room who want to be forgiven and I have a God in heaven who loves to forgive what's there to preach preach just come up get on your knees I didn't even preach a sermon I'm just like you guys came here because you feel dirty and you want to be forgiven and good news God came here because he loves forgiving he loves being merciful he loves being gracious he's like a father going man I don't want you insecure I want to change that in you so just just tell me what you did tell me what you did I'll forgive you of it I'll give you power to overcome it but I don't want this insecurity like the prodical son wa get over here get over I'm going to run to you I'm going to put the ring on you put the clothes on we have a celebration this is our heavenly father and I know there are some of you that you are you've been Christians your whole life and you're 90% sure you're going to heaven and I'm just saying that is not what your father wants for you and I had to be honest with it I'm so glad I was and I'm so glad the People Prayed for me and I'm so glad that God began to just pour his love into my heart that I'm no longer rooted and grounded in what I'm going to do for the Lord I root and ground in the love of Christ that he loves me he always has he saw me in the darkest weakest times of my life and he's seeing me right now he made me he saved me he cleansed me he loves me and he can't wait for that day still trying to totally get there this that I'm the bride of Christ we are the bride of Christ and there's a beauty to us because of what Christ did on the cross precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of one of his Saints so I'd like to pray right now and if there's anyone in this room that you would say you know what I'm not sure I'm insecure sure and I want that to change I want to pray for you specifically if there's demonic thoughts in your head that get you thinking no it's he doesn't really love me or see me as beautiful I believe in the power of prayer so if that's you and you're insecure in your walk with the Lord I want to invite you to stand up where you are sorry I can pray for you thanks just hold your hands out to the Lord so I believe he can rece you can receive today and he could literally pour the his love into your hearts right now God we are helpless God we are helpless without you we need you we come before your throne of grace right now you told Moses that you're merciful and great ious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness we're going to claim that right now God you've seen the things that we've done and we know you are a terrifying almighty God that we will all face one day and unless you show show Mercy on us we're doomed but you told us that you're rich in Mercy and we believe your words so we thank you that you are a god of mercy and that you have forgiven you promised us that if we confess our sins you are faithful and fair to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteous nness so we could be whiter than snow and we're saying God please do that in our lives and God those of us who who are standing there's been so much insecurity whether it's being rejected as kids or demonic thoughts or just bad teaching whatever it is it's it's there and we know it's demonic and we know that you're a perfect father and you want us just to to feel so secure like John when he laid his head on your chest like you want us to know that just we can lay our head on your chest the judge of the whole world and we can lay our head on your chest God give us that confidence Lord give us that much confidence in the cross I pray for my brothers and sisters who are standing right now that you would just pour your love into their hearts so that they can truly cry out to you even as we worship that they truly from their souls cry out ABA father God Only by your spirit can this happen for this reason I'm on my knees God before the god from whom every person here was created that according to the riches of your glory you would just grant them to be strengthened with power in their inner being by the holy spirit so that Christ could abide that they can abide inside of Christ and Christ would abide in them perfect love that casts out fear right now Lord help us know how wide and long and high and deep for those who feel like you've just put up with us help us to know how intense your love is for us that we can know this love that surpasses his comprehension now to him who is able to do far more abundantly and all that we ask or think according to the power that's at work within us to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus in the mighty name of Jesus we cast out all demonic influence in the name of Jesus who is far above all rule Authority power and Dominion he is above all of you demonic beings far above all you demon demc forces the Bible tells us he sits at the right hand of the father and he's far above all rule Authority power and Dominion so at the mighty name of Jesus every knee is going to bow that means all of you demonic beings we cast you out in the name of Jesus and tell you to never return in the mighty name of Jesus we pray amen" [00:30:06]
Ask a question about this sermon
"because for those of you who think because there may be a voice in your head had saying life is miserable the future looks hopeless and you can escape it all by taking your life right now that is so demonic that is not an escape like I said the moment it happens you stand before a terrifying God and if you thought your problems here on Earth were massive our biggest problem is God our biggest problem is we come to the end now we can be saved and I'll talk" [00:20:53]
"about that in a second but I I just want to get in your head that if you have any thought of Escape because this is so prevalent today because the Bible says there are cosmic Powers over this present Darkness why are so many people thinking about ending their lives because there's a cosmic power that is putting these ideas in people's heads that it's going to be better it's going to be better just end it it's going to be better it's getting in some of your heads and I'm just" [00:21:46]
"telling you guys that is so from the pit of Hell and there isn't a guarantee that it's going to be better it could be a million times worse and eternal and so think about that the reality that it would take you into a desperation that does not end having said that let me just make clear the Bible says there's only one imperdonable sin it's not suicide it's blasphemy of the holy spirit in context it seems like when God does a a miracle that was clearly like like they're of the Holy Spirit and" [00:22:18]
"people were saying that was not of God that was of Satan and that's in the context of when Jesus talks about the unpardonable sin it's like wait I don't know what else I can do for you the Holy Spirit just showed you a flat out miracle that you cannot deny you know it's miraculous and you choose to attribute that to Satan rather than the Holy Spirit he's like that's just unforgivable that's the only thing so biblically we can't say oh everyone who takes their life is in hell now we can't take we can't say that biblically what I'm warning against is the opposite" [00:23:09]
"extreme of that which he or she's always in a better place when the Bible says you'll know a tree by its fruit somehow there's got to be a way where we we just talk directly about these things and the Bible does say we have to look at our own lives and look at the fruit of Our Lives um so with the situation I'm just begging those of you that have been influenced demonically God brought you here for a reason and everything could change today he really can change I mean you when I look at who Bill and Ry are today if you told me 30 years ago that" [00:24:35]
"that they would be the way they are today I would be like there's no way there is no way they were a mess oh Rhonda was such a hot mess oh you were and to see her now I'm like what the heck who is she like there was just this this change that just just happened and she just became more and more beautiful and just sensitive to the spirit and became this amazing mom and this woman of God and everything else it's like whoa you know it just and and the the hopelessness uh of their marriage from the start like it was just I I you know I mean I still remember I mean it was" [00:25:04]
"one of the few times I felt like physically threatened you know by his brother-in-law you know was in my like right here like he's talking in my face spits coming under my face this big redneck I guess you're all rednecks but you know back back there you know Southern California not everyone was a redneck but you so I was like whoa this guy is in my face and you're like you're telling me Billy can't divorce that witch and I'm like yeah yeah I think that's what the Bible says don't hit me you know it was just crazy and now I'm like oh my gosh like I said I don't trust anyone like I trust them and so I don't wherever your life is today you" [00:25:54]
"need to know you're you're being shepherded by leaders that God has absolutely transformed their lives and that should give you hope for your relationships no matter how desperate you're feeling about life about relationship you're in great hands here and uh kind of went off on a tangent there but uh you know whenever I go into a a room full of people I just know that there's some crazy circumstances in your life and some of you are near the end and there have been too many times when I walked on a stage and I just wasn't aware of it and I was oblivious to it and we want to take this time to stay in the house of morning not to pretend like nothing happened this week not to just move on with" [00:26:32]
"life and just go okay let me look at myself you know there's a there's a really interesting passage in um in Luke chap 13 uh a tragedy happens um where this Tower falls on these people so so in uh verse 14 um well we'll start at verse one of uh Luke 13 He says there were some present at that very time who who told him about the galileans whose blood pilate had mingled with their sacrifices so so pilate basically killed these people and and so then Jesus answered them do you think that these galileans were worse Sinners than all the other galileans because they suffered in this way no I tell you but unless you repent you will all likewise perish then he says or those 18 on whom the tower in Sal fell and killed them do you think they were worse offenders than all the others who lived in Jerusalem no I tell you but unless you" [00:28:01]
"repent you will all likewise perish just take that second one so they're standing around a tower falls down 18 people died and so they go to Jesus they're like why those 18 were those the 18 that God wanted to kill right then because the people that just were missed by the tower were more spiritual and Jesus is this what you're thinking he goes first of all your answer to that is no that is not why those people died but then he doesn't really give an answer not the answer they were looking for all he says is but if you don't repent you too will perish why' he do that these guys wanted answers and his only answer was worry about yourself unless you repent you're going to perish too he he kind of twist because in the church sometimes we just want to talk about situations and and kind of go oh I wonder if it's because of this I wonder if it's because of this I wonder if it's because of this and we don't deal with our own issues we love to talk about other people's issues and try to figure it out for them and what Jesus is saying is like hey look at your own life unless you repent you too will perish and that's what I want us to do today is just look at our own lives and and not try to evaluate and have a bunch of Bible studies on what what really happened in this situation but to just start looking at our lives and going look the reality is this could be your last day and so there's nothing more important then for you to to be confident I mean truly not giving the church yes oh yeah I'm know I'm going to heaven but really know that from your heart because I am convinced that many of you in this room are still insecure about death even though you say I know I'm going to heaven you'll say that because you know that's the right answer but it's not really coming from the core of your soul seriously and you may be 95% sure but is that really what you want when it comes to Eternity like forever and either torment or blessing and you're okay with 95% because I'm not and I'm going to share something that I don't I don't know that I I may have shared publicly apart from my own church but when I was 50 so I'm 57 now when I was 50 I told my wife I don't want a party can we just get a bunch of friends church members over and just have a prayer Gathering a worship time and so we gathered a bunch of people over and and I just told them I said look the only present I want from you is I want you to pray for me and here's what I want you to pray pray I'm still insecure I I'm like 90% sure that if I were to die I'd go to heaven that was confusing for people wait you're Francis Chan didn't you don't you preach to Millions haven't you written all these books that we all read and you were insecure you're not sure of your salvation yeah cuz I was reading I was reading in first John back then and and that that passage in first John which is I've I've learned to love this passage it's beautiful to me I mean just a week ago or two I I was reading it going gosh what I Love Your Heart In this passage but remember reading it and it says this in 1 John 4:16 it says so we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us God is love and whoever abides in love abides in God and God's abides in him by this is love perect perfected with us so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment because as he is so also are we in this world there is no fear in love but perfect love casts out fear for fear has to do with punishment and whoever fears has not been perfected in love man I know what I'm supposed to say as the preacher yeah so this is what you guys need to work on you know because I love God and I know when I die I'm going to heaven but when I read that I was like okay I'm like 90% there some days 80 some days 70 and he says if I had perfect love it casts out all fear and it's in the context of having confidence for the day of judgment the day when I die or Christ returns and I'm standing before him we have a god this is this is why it's so beautiful me I have a father in Heaven this is say I don't want you afraid of that at all I want to have a perfect love relationship with you to where there's no zero fear just like I have seven children I would hate if any of them felt insecure in my love and I'm sure they do at at moments at times maybe even Seasons but it breaks my heart it's like what can I do to let you know that I love you and I'll do anything for you this is the heart of a father and he doesn't want any insecurity you got to know I give my life for you I do whatever for you and and that's our God he's saying look this is what I want for you children I want to have a perfect relationship with you so you have absolute confidence on that day yes I understand I am a holy God and everyone who sees me freaks out falls on their faces but I also want you to have this confidence in my love to where it cast out all fear and if I was and I had to stand honestly before the people I shephered and said look there's still some insecurity in here I don't have perfect love pray that my love would be perfected I still think about stuff I did 30 years ago and still feel the the shame of it how is that these demonic thoughts of he can't love you after that it's in there I want perfect love you guys pray for that and they prayed they had set up a calendar where someone was fasting all day every day for the rest of the year to pray for me my insecurity because when I read the Bible you see the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3 he's talking to the Ephesians who he says man I've seen your faithfulness and everything else but for this reason I bow my knees before the father he goes and I pray that according to the riches of his glory he would Grant you strength in your inner being by the holy spirit so that Christ May dwell in your heart through faith that you being rooted and grounded in love may have Str to comprehend together with all the saints how wide and long and high and deep and to know the love of God that surpasses comprehension so the Apostle Paul is saying to these Believers I'm on my knees praying that the love of Christ would actually take root in you live in you and you would know how much he loves you how wide long high and deep I'd like somehow that so Paul's on his knees begging for this why because you don't teach us he goes it's the love of Christ I want you to know know it and it's beyond comprehension in Romans 5:5 he says God pours his love into your hearts there's some Supernatural interaction that takes place it's not through another class not saying classes are bad or Bible studies are bad they're just not sufficient they're essential necessary NE AR but not sufficient there's something that is only done through the power of the Holy Spirit and prayer where those of us who have been rejected our whole lives suddenly like some of you grew up the way I did or similar where when I was born my mother died so my dad resented me and did not want me and gave me up for adoption cuz I'm the one that killed his wife just the fact that I was put on this Earth he lost his wife through it so he didn't want to see me set up an adoption before the other lady could take me who was going to adopt me my grandmother my aunt stole me away took me to Hong Kong where I grew up but my grandma got too old to take care of me and I was a handful and by the time I was five she forced my dad to take me back you find this stuff out later in life and then it all starts to make sense oh that's why you treated me so different that's why you tied me to a tree and beat the hell out of me every time I did something wrong you never wanted me that's why you never once talked to me that's why on the day of your death when I was 12 years old I was relieved and what the Bible says is you don't take a kid like that and just re-educate them something Supernatural happens where he says I'll actually put my spirit into the center of your soul to where you cry out ABA father even though you've never felt the love of a dad somehow I can miraculously put it in you and now you're secure and you know how wide and long and high and deep and somehow I can heal you of all of that stuff that doesn't come from clever speeches or great sermons look the word of God is necessary but there has to be something that happens inside of you and that's what my church prayed for their pastor and things began to change and I can't explain it cuz that's the way our God works that for those of you who youve never really been secure it's never been about this love relationship and enjoying him that can change and I even know I could God showed me a couple years ago where a lot of the insecurities started because when I first fell in love with Jesus in high school I was Totally Secure like God healed me I loved him I was on my high school campus preaching about him there was such a a piece about it I'm still working you know working through all my sin issues and all that and but man I was Secure in my walk with the Lord and everything was great then I went to Bible college and that messed me up um not saying it was the college's fault but in college they were preaching something that I still believe to this day which is lordship salvation like Jesus must be the Lord of your life and I read the scripture go well duh of course look at what Jesus says you you can't even follow me unless you hate your father mother wife kids you got to deny yourself pick up your cross for I I get it of course he's Lord he even says why do you call me Lord Lord when you don't do what I say so I I I believe H how else could we receive him just as Savior oh can you stop being king for a while because I want to accept you into my heart as just savior but not as king and not as Lord it didn't make any sense so I still believe that 100% but here's where it can spiral you and this is what God opened my eyes to I still remember being in the dorm with some friends one of them was a girl I was dating not nearly as great as you Lisa um but I remember her bringing up at one point going she goes do any of us really know if Jesus is Lord Of Our Lives I mean isn't that just really we won't know until we die and we all just kind of nodded our heads I look back I go that is horrible you have a group of Bible college students who are now sitting around going I'm not sure if he's Lord of every area of my life if he's really Lord why did I look at pornography this week if he's Lord then why was I messing around with this girl why was I staring at her why why you know why do I still hate him why do I just always talk about myself if he's really Lord Of My Life why am I afraid to be a missionary and give up my life you you start evaluating which you're looking at all these areas of your life and you're going o maybe he's not Lord of that area maybe he's not Lord of that area maybe he's not that Lord of that area and and then you finally come to the conclusion I guess I won't really know until I die and then he'll tell me whether or not he was really Lord of my life and and then either I go to heaven or I go to hell so you live your entire life constantly looking at your action wondering am I going to make it is it good and then it's like wait where's Grace in all of this we were just trained to stare at our actions to look at everyone else's actions judge them for their actions I mean we were just Infamous for judging everyone you know they're not real Believers they're not real Believers they're not real Believers and then we're looking at oursel constantly going are you a real believer I I don't know I don't know I don't know and then there's something nice about that because what it does is it gets it it causes like this character change not character behavioral change because now it's like if you're all insecure then you're like I better stop looking at porn because I might go to hell I might and it changes your action and there was some sort of I don't know ends justifies the means type of thing in and we were always looking at ourselves and judging ourselves judging others and we weren't staring at the cross the love of Christ became something that oh you already learned that that's Elementary now let's move on to these other things and I hate that I spent my life preaching about other things and not preaching about the mercy of God the grace of God the love of God I hate that I spent so much of my life evaluating my own actions rather than praising him for his and some of us that are naturally critical of ourselves it just takes you down a spiral that Satan wants you to go down and then pretty soon you find yourself insecure fearful and you're out of the this perfect love that he wants and again hear me clearly I believe he needs to be Lord Of Our Lives but there's got to be a way that we can hold that truth and yet focus and dwell on the grace of God and his love for us and this perfect love and for that to DW that's what Paul's getting on his knees for not for lordship but he goes I want the Lord to dwell abide I want you to know how wide and long and high and deep I want you to be rooted in the in the love of God and he's talking to mature Believers I want them dwelling on the love of God because you have a God that wants you to feel secure knowing what he did for you on the cross that he paid for all of that meanwhile like I said there demonic influences and they're going to get you thinking about anything other than the grace of God and before you know it you're actually trying to work your way to Heaven by making him Lord and working harder to make him Lord rather him truly dwelling in you abiding in you you're enjoying each other this is what the garden was it's Adam and Eve walking with their God this is what the Eternal state is in Revelation at the very end it's like and I'm going to be with them I'm going to walk with them again and this is what he wants of us now for many of us Christianity was like a belief system that we grew up in and we just agreed to believe in certain things but it wasn't a real marriage a love relationship or even through the hardest times you bond together as husband and wife and you get through it again because there's just this history this relationship and for some of you who haven't had that with Jesus you're like that prodigal son trying to go back and you're sitting there going I well maybe he'll let me be his slave I've screwed up so much maybe he'll just barely let me into his house but as a slave and what does the father say no you're not going to be my slave get over here you put a ring on your finger I want to have a celebration for you give you some new clothes I want to celebrate and some of us just feel so dirty yeah you know I just did a wedding last week and as a as a bride started walking up and I'm I'm thinking about the groom I I stand with the groom and they're always like wow amazing you know like ah you know such a beautiful thing you know remember I did Bill and ronda's wedding and you know after he proposed to her at HomeTown Buffet um oh did I don't know if you all knew that but that was like wow you're real classy guy and uh he I'm going to tell you all his Secrets but uh there's just that moment where the groom's like oh she's so beautiful and I thought'd do I believe that about God that he looks at me as the bride do you believe that about yourself that Jesus did such an amazing work in you and cleanse you that you could walk in white and he is waiting for this marriage supper waiting he say he it's it's like a blessing to him is the death of one of his Saints like he's just waiting to to see Francis and go and look at me and go he's so beautiful this is the day I dreamt of see this is what God wants of us that's why he doesn't make this a contract a belief system he goes husbands love your wives as Christ loved the church he goes I want you to see it in marriage like this is this is what I want this Song of Solomon this love relation relationship he goes do you understand that I desire you like like marriage is a shadow everything you've ever loved here on the earth it's a shadow it's a glimpse I wanted you to taste love CU I wanted you to know that there's a wedding coming and this is what I feel about you and I'm waiting for you and I really did something so beautiful that you're beautiful to me now because of what Christ did on the cross I wasn't enjoying any of that cuz I just kept staring at my dirt I kept staring at my failures I kept wondering if he was Lord enough of my life there's got to be some way that we can walk in Total Security alongside the truth of Jesus is Lord and so I really didn't didn't really come to preach to you I mean it's a totally different sermon from first service I think this one's better if you're going to post one do this one but uh I really believe something happened in me when my church started praying for me and I can't explain it it just happens and it's not overnight but it happens and your heart changes that's why he says he pours the love of Christ into your heart you can't physiologically physiologically explain that you can't intellectually explain that it's that miracle and there is something about the casting out of demonic thoughts that we can't ignore it there's a dark force on this Earth and it's leading people to destruction so I didn't come here to preach I came here with the hope that I could literally pray come before the Throne of God the throne of grace here's the thing here's the thing it hit me just a few weeks ago I was in New Zealand preaching and it hit me like the Bible says God is rich in Mercy that means he's like dying to forgive someone that's why the cross makes sense so that's why you want to so much because inside of who you are the Lord the Lord a god merciful and gracious like this is who he is it wasn't like at a moment he decided to show Mercy it's like he he's got to get it out of like that's who he is he's rich in Mercy he's overflowing so it hit me I'm like wait I've got all these young people coming in a room who want to be forgiven and I have a God in heaven who loves to forgive what's there to preach preach just come up get on your knees I didn't even preach a sermon I'm just like you guys came here because you feel dirty and you want to be forgiven and good news God came here because he loves forgiving he loves being merciful he loves being gracious he's like a father going man I don't want you insecure I want to change that in you so just just tell me what you did tell me what you did I'll forgive you of it I'll give you power to overcome it but I don't want this insecurity like the prodical son wa get over here get over I'm going to run to you I'm going to put the ring on you put the clothes on we have a celebration this is our heavenly father and I know there are some of you that you are you've been Christians your whole life and you're 90% sure you're going to heaven and I'm just saying that is not what your father wants for you and I had to be honest with it I'm so glad I was and I'm so glad the People Prayed for me and I'm so glad that God began to just pour his love into my heart that I'm no longer rooted and grounded in what I'm going to do for the Lord I root and ground in the love of Christ that he loves me he always has he saw me in the darkest weakest times of my life and he's seeing me right now he made me he saved me he cleansed me he loves me and he can't wait for that day still trying to totally get there this that I'm the bride of Christ we are the bride of Christ and there's a beauty to us because of what Christ did on the cross precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of one of his Saints so I'd like to pray right now and if there's anyone in this room that you would say you know what I'm not sure I'm insecure sure and I want that to change I want to pray for you specifically if there's demonic thoughts in your head that get you thinking no it's he doesn't really love me or see me as beautiful I believe in the power of prayer so if that's you and you're insecure in your walk with the Lord I want to invite you to stand up where you are sorry I can pray for you thanks just hold your hands out to the Lord so I believe he can rece you can receive today and he could literally pour the his love into your hearts right now God we are helpless God we are helpless without you we need you we come before your throne of grace right now you told Moses that you're merciful and great ious slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness we're going to claim that right now God you've seen the things that we've done and we know you are a terrifying almighty God that we will all face one day and unless you show show Mercy on us we're doomed but you told us that you're rich in Mercy and we believe your words so we thank you that you are a god of mercy and that you have forgiven you promised us that if we confess our sins you are faithful and fair to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteous nness so we could be whiter than snow and we're saying God please do that in our lives and God those of us who who are standing there's been so much insecurity whether it's being rejected as kids or demonic thoughts or just bad teaching whatever it is it's it's there and we know it's demonic and we know that you're a perfect father and you want us just to to feel so secure like John when he laid his head on your chest like you want us to know that just we can lay our head on your chest the judge of the whole world and we can lay our head on your chest God give us that confidence Lord give us that much confidence in the cross I pray for my brothers and sisters who are standing right now that you would just pour your love into their hearts so that they can truly cry out to you even as we worship that they truly from their souls cry out ABA father God Only by your spirit can this happen for this reason I'm on my knees God before the god from whom every person here was created that according to the riches of your glory you would just grant them to be strengthened with power in their inner being by the holy spirit so that Christ could abide that they can abide inside of Christ and Christ would abide in them perfect love that casts out fear right now Lord help us know how wide and long and high and deep for those who feel like you've just put up with us help us to know how intense your love is for us that we can know this love that surpasses his comprehension now to him who is able to do far more abundantly and all that we ask or think according to the power that's at work within us to him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus in the mighty name of Jesus we cast out all demonic influence in the name of Jesus who is far above all rule Authority power and Dominion he is above all of you demonic beings far above all you demon demc forces the Bible tells us he sits at the right hand of the father and he's far above all rule Authority power and Dominion so at the mighty name of Jesus every knee is going to bow that means all of you demonic beings we cast you out in the name of Jesus and tell you to never return in the mighty name of Jesus we pray amen" [00:30:06]
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