In this sermon, the preacher emphasizes the importance of examining one's heart and letting go of any doctrines or traditions that hinder the fear of God. He encourages the listeners to ask God to reinstate the fear of Him in their lives, as it is the key to walking in righteousness and avoiding stumbling in sin. The preacher then shares a parable about a man who invited many guests to a dinner, but they all made excuses and did not attend. He relates this to the lack of readiness and watchfulness for the coming of Jesus, urging the listeners to be prepared and vigilant for His return.

This is tape number eight in a series. We urge you to listen to all the tapes in this series in numerical order so that the whole teaching can be received and understood. Listening to a part of this series or to the tapes out of sequence can lead to a misunderstanding of the nature, the intent, and the importance of this series. By wisdom the house is built and by understanding it's established. But what's wisdom? Turn with me to Job 28. Job chapter 28. Job chapter 28. There's a real good question asked here. Job chapter 28. Verse 12. If wisdom is going to build the house it's pretty important for us to know what wisdom is. Is that right? Job 28 verse 12. But where can wisdom be found? And where is the place of what? Understanding. What's going to establish the house? Understanding. Where can wisdom be found and where is the place of understanding? Know this for sure. Man does not know its value. Nor is it found in the land of the living. Now that's interesting. If you can't find it in the land of the living that means you can't get it from another man. Are you hearing what I'm saying? No man's going to establish it by wisdom unless the Lord build a house. The building's in vain. Oh so he says that man doesn't know its value nor is it found in the land of living. The deep says it's not in me. The sea says it's not in me. Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it. Nor can silver be weighed as its price. It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir. In precious onyx or sapphire gold or glass cannot equal it. Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold. Verse 20. Where then does wisdom come from? That's a good question. Is it not? And where is the place of understanding? If they're going to build the house and establish the house where does it come from and where is the place of understanding? How many of you with me? Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all the living and concealed from the birds of the sky. Abaddon and death say or destruction and death. Let's put it this way. What are Abaddon and death names for? Are they names for Satan? Well here's what Satan says. Satan says with our ears we've heard a report of it. We don't know who it is. We don't know what it is but with our ears we hear reports of it. Verse 23. God understands its worth. He knows its place for he looks to the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens when he imparted weight to the wind and met it out the waters by measure. When he set a limit for the rain and a course for the thunderbolt then he saw it and he declared it. He established it and he searched it out and to man he said behold the fear of the Lord that is wisdom and to depart from sin is understanding. Now let's reread Proverbs 24. Don't have to turn there. By the fear of the Lord the house is built and by departing from sin it's established. Could we say that? I say could we say Turn with me to Proverbs chapter 2. Proverbs chapter 2. Proverbs chapter 2. Verse 1. My son if. Proverbs chapter 2 verse 1. My son if. Is that a condition? If you will receive my sayings and treasure my commandments. Where are you going to treasure them? Within you. Would that be in your heart? Now look at this. Make your ear attentive to wisdom and incline your heart to understanding. Let's reread that. Make your ear. What is wisdom? The fear of the Lord. Make your ear attentive to the fear of the Lord and incline your heart to doing what? Departing from sin. Now God says verse 4. If you seek her as silver and search for her as for hidden treasures then you will discern the fear of the Lord. God says I'll teach you the fear of the Lord. We don't see that anymore. The fear of the Lord is something that's deposited in your heart with the new hearts. Are you hearing what I'm saying? But it has to be learned and discerned. But I want you to know something. From the moment it was deposited in your heart as a new creation. Satan set out to steal it. Because if he could rob the fear of the Lord from being before your eyes. Your heart would listen to transmission. Are you hearing what I'm saying? I say are you hearing what I'm saying? Now notice. Verse 5. Then you'll discern the fear of the Lord and discover the knowledge of God. Now just look at all the promises that come from this walking in the fear of the Lord and departing from evil. For the Lord gives wisdom. Verse 6. And from his mouth come knowledge and understanding. He stores up sound wisdom. Who's he stored up for? For the righteous or the upright. He is a shield to those who walk in integrity. Can I tell you that's a covenant term? When God made covenant with Abraham. Do you remember what we read last night? He said behold I'll be a shield to you and your great reward. And so he says that's the covenant. I'll be a shield to those who walk. How are they going to walk? In integrity guarding the paths of justice. He preserves the way. Who does he preserve the way of? Of his saints or his godly ones. Then you will discern righteousness and justice and equity in every good course. For wisdom or the fear of the Lord. What's going to happen? It's going to enter your hearts and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul. Discretion will guard you. Understanding will watch over you to deliver you from the way of evil. From the man who speaks perverse things. From those who leave the path of unrighteous uprightness. To walk in the ways of darkness. Who delight in doing evil and rejoice in the perversity of evil. Whose paths are crooked and whose devious who are devious in their ways. To deliver you from the strange woman. From the adulteress who flatters with her words. Now look at this. That leaves the companion of her youth and forgets the covenant of her God. Now it says that there's an adulteress and a strange woman that's to draw your heart away. That you may forget the covenant you have with God. And that you no longer walk in the fear of him. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Now notice where that leads to. If you follow that woman. Now I'm not talking about a literal woman by the way. Now I want you to see something. You're going to see something. For her house sinks down to death and her tracks lead to the dead. None who go to her return again nor do they reach the paths of life. Is that strong? All right now listen to me. He's not talking about the world. He's talking about the adulteress heart church with all of its doctrines of peace and safety that no longer let the feared God be before your eyes. You want to know how your heart got hard to sin. Because somewhere along the line the adulteress told you about a scripture. About a verse. About a doctrine that says you can go ahead and walk in that sin as long as you don't do these sins. You can walk in these sins but don't do those sins. You can walk this way but don't go that way and you're still going to go to heaven. Even though you could have read it for yourself right here and God said none of it's right. Are you hearing what I'm saying? And you know what happened? Peace and safety came into your heart. The fear of God disappeared. And so you walked under the law. Because you walked not doing certain things. Don't do this. But this is okay. Are you hearing what I'm saying? And the fear of God left you. When the fear of God left you your heart was open to hear transgression and temptation from the devil. Are you with me? I say are you with me? All right now notice this. Turn with me to Proverbs 28. Let's just see what advantage it is to have the feared God. Proverbs chapter 28 verse 14. I just want you to go through some of these scriptures with me. I want you to see if the fear of God is a good thing or a bad thing. Proverbs 28 verse 14. How blessed. How what? Blessed is the man who what? Fears always but he who hardens his heart. What's going to happen to him? He's going to fall into calamity. Let me tell you something. When the fear of God. Let me say it again. When the fear of God is removed from your heart the end result will always be a hardening of the heart. Why? Because you just accept certain temptations and you do them still believing you're going to go to heaven even though you may feel a little guilty. But your heart just keeps getting harder and harder and harder because the fear of God is gone. Are you with me? I say are you with me? All right but now notice some things. Turn with me to Proverbs 16. Proverbs chapter 16. I quoted this several times but I want you to see it. Proverbs chapter 16 verse 6. By loving kindness and truth iniquity is atoned for and by the fear of the Lord one keeps away from evil. How many of you see that? The fear of the Lord is your strength to keep away from evil. Now listen to me. Now this ought to be an encouragement to some of you because I want you to hear me. There are some of you who have wanted to walk with God. Some of you really have wanted to deal with the rebellion and the temptations that come your way. And you've tried to resist and tried to resist but haven't been able to. And you hated it. I mean you didn't like the sin but then the next thing you know you are right back in the same trap. And you wonder God what's wrong with me? God's telling you what's wrong. Something stole at some point the fear of God from before your eyes and therefore your heart is open to hear the transgression and the temptation of the devil. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Now here's the good part. God says if you incline your ear to knowing about the fear of the Lord and you set your heart toward not walking in sin but understanding which is to depart from evil God says through the fear of the Lord I'll build that house and I will establish it. Are you turning from sin? Are you with me? Here's what he does. As you put the fear of God before your eyes and you ask God. Remember the fear of the Lord must be discerned and it must be learned. But it's a product of that new heart. Are you hearing what I'm saying? God says let me teach you the fear of the Lord. And if I teach you the fear of the Lord you will find a new strength to turn away from temptation and sin. Are you hearing what I'm saying? I say are you hearing what I'm saying? All right now notice this. Turn with me to Proverbs 14. Proverbs 14 verse 26. Do you remember the times you come before God and you just you just wish that you could just feel God's presence and you just wish that you could stand confidently before God and not have to hang your head low and not have to feel like you didn't belong there? How many of you remember those times? Well listen to me. Here's what he says. Verse 26. In the fear of the Lord what is there? There's strong confidence. Not only will the fear of the Lord keep you from evil, but the fear of the Lord will put strong confidence in your heart before God. Not only that, your children will have a refuge. You see because that adulterous comes not only to infect your way, but when your children see how you walk they get a picture of what it's like to walk with God. That when you learn and have the fear of God before your eyes, it's also infectious. It's in your home and it has a safeguard for your children. Are you with me? Verse 27. The fear of the Lord is a fountain of life that one may avoid the snares of death. Let me ask you a question. All of a sudden the fear of the Lord is not such a bad thing, is it? Verse 2. Chapter 14. He who walks in his uprightness, what does he do? He fears the Lord, but he who is crooked in his ways, what happens to him? He despises the Lord. Now turn with me to Proverbs 23. Proverbs 23. I want you to notice this. Proverbs 23. Verse 12. Apply your heart to discipline and your ears to the words of knowledge. What are you supposed to apply your heart to? To discipline and your ears to the words of knowledge. Verse 17. Do not let your heart envy sinners, but you're to live in the fear of the Lord. How often? Always. Now notice this. Surely there is a hope and your hope will not be cut off. My son, listen, my son, and be wise and direct your heart in the way. Verse 26. God says this. What's he after? Give me your heart, my son, and let your eyes delight my ways. Now notice this. For a harlot, that's that adulterous we read about. What is, what's that harlot like? A deep pit and an adulterous woman is a narrow well. Surely she lurks as a robber. And what does it increase? Transgression or faithlessness among men. Now, how many of you see that? All right. Now here's what it says. At some point you had the fear of God. It happened to you. You got the fear of God deposited in your heart. Well, I'll tell you something. If you live in a harlot and you had doctrines of meaning, you lost the fear of God before your hearts. If you had doctrines of peace and safety that told you how righteous you were, while you walked in the lust, rebellion of your heart, and maybe nobody else knew, but you felt comfortable, you were going to go to heaven. Day by day, Sunday after Sunday, year after year, you got those things deposited in your heart. And then when anybody tried to tell you that you just might fall away and go to hell if you weren't walking in righteousness, that old doctrine just jumped up inside and said, not me, not me. You know, you were so eager to defend that doctrine that you never even listened to examine, am I walking with a whole heart toward God? You know why? Because the adulterous harlot had stolen the fear of God before your eyes. And all you needed was somebody to say you are righteous. And you didn't even have to go find out from God himself. You just rejected what you didn't know. The result? No fear of God before your eyes. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Now when that was there, you couldn't walk in victory because transgression spoke to you. And it increased your faithlessness among men. You became unfaithful to God's love. Turn with me to Psalm 12. How many of you are hearing what I'm saying? Psalm 12. Now let me ask you another question. Is it in the Bible? Psalm 12, Psalm chapter 12, 12th Psalm, verse 1. I want you to notice it's a Psalm of David and David looks around him and he cries out something. Here's what he cries. Now look carefully. Help Lord for the godly man. What kind of a man? The godly man ceases to be for the faithful disappear from among the sons of men. How many of you seen that? See David looked around him and you know what he saw? He didn't see any godly men and he didn't see faithful people. Did we just see that the harlot adulterous steals faithfulness and adds transgression? It increases transgression, takes away faithfulness. Are you getting what I'm saying? And so he looked around him. He didn't see any. Look at the problem. Verse 2. They speak falsehood to one another with flattering lips. And what kind of a heart? And a double heart they speak. May the Lord cut off all flattering lips and the tongue that speaks great things. Who have said with our tongue we will prevail our lips are our own who is Lord over us. You see when the heart gets double in order to protect yourself everybody just starts flattering one another. Are you hearing what I'm saying? Just flattering with words. Turn with me to Hosea chapter 4. Hosea chapter 4. Hosea chapter 4. Verse 1. Listen to the word of the Lord oh sons of Israel. For the Lord has a case against the inhabitants of the land because there's no faithfulness or kindness. Now the King James says truth or mercy. But I want you to remember something. Psalm 51 verse 6. David was crying out to God and he said God my sin is ever before me against thee and thee only have I sinned and he said this. He said Lord thou dost desire truth in the innermost heart. Create in me a clean heart oh God. There's no faithfulness or truth or kindness or knowledge of God in the land. Now I want you to notice we're going to come to a popularly quoted verse but we never understood it because we don't read the whole thing. As a result he says this in verse 6. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge. How many have heard that? We just quote that all the time. My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge but notice why they're destroyed. Because you have rejected knowledge. See God wants to give us knowledge. The reason the people are destroyed is not because they haven't heard it. It's because they've rejected it. Are you hearing what I'm saying? They don't want to hear it because their heart is not faithful to God. What's the problem? Verse 7. The more they multiplied the more they sinned against me. I'll change their glory into shame. They feed on the sin of my people and direct their desire or set their heart on what? On iniquity and sin. Verse 10. And they eat but they don't have enough. That's just the opposite of the covenant. God said I want to supply everything pertaining to life and godliness for you. They eat but they don't have enough. They play the harlot but not increase because they've stopped giving heed to the Lord. Harlotry, wine and new wine take away the understanding. My people consult their wooden idol and their diviner's wand informs them for a spirit of harlotry has led them astray for they have played the harlot departing from their God. Can I tell you that it's a spirit that works to draw you astray? Is that what it says? I say is that what it says? Does it say a spirit of harlotry draws you aside? And what does the spirit of harlotry work? Turn with me to Hosea 5. We've got a few more scriptures I want you to go through. Turn with me to Hosea 5. Verse 3. I know Ephraim and Israel is not hidden from me for now O Ephraim you have played the harlot. Israel has defiled herself. Their deeds will not allow them to return to their God for a spirit of harlotry is where? It's within them, in their midst. They don't know God. Verse 6. They'll go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord but they'll not find him. He has withdrawn from them. They have dealt treacherously against the Lord. Hosea 6. Verse 6. For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice and in the knowledge of God rather than burn offerings but like Adam. And the King James says like men but if you look at most of the side margins of the King James it'll say Adam. Like Adam they have done what? They have transgressed the what? The covenant. Now I'm showing you all these things for a purpose but I want you to now go with me to the New Testament because I want you to say something in Luke. Turn with me to Luke. I'm showing you how what happens when the fear of God is gone. Transgression speaks to your heart and a spirit of harlotry takes over your heart. Are you hearing what I'm saying? I say are you hearing what I'm saying? All right now notice in Luke chapter 12. Luke chapter 12. Now I want you to watch closely with me. We are reading from the New Covenant are we not? Luke chapter 12. Verse 34. For where your treasure is what's going to be there? Your heart's going to be there also. Be dressed in readiness. Now I want you to see this and I want you to notice carefully how God says that you ought to be waiting for the coming of Jesus. Be dressed in readiness. Keep your lamps alit or alight and be like men who are waiting for their master when he returns from the wedding feast so that they may immediately open the door to him when he comes and knocks. Blessed are those slaves whom the master shall find on what are they going to be on? On alert when he comes. Truly I say to you that he will gird himself to serve. Now this is covenant. He'll gird himself to serve God will and recline at the table and come up and wait on them. Now isn't that a beautiful promise? God says I want those people that are alert I'm going to display myself as their covenant God and I'm going to come up and serve them. Now notice this. Verse 38. Whether he comes in the second watch or even in the third and finds them so blessed are those slaves and be sure of this that if the head of the house had known at what hour the thief was coming he would not have allowed his house to be broken into. You too be what? Be ready for the son of man's coming at an hour that you do not expect. All right now I don't want you to read on I want you to listen to me. I can read those verses and even tonight there there are people here you just look at it it doesn't apply to you you don't even wonder you don't even think about it it's just about the second coming I'm ready I'm all right you may be some of you but there are people here that I know I see you're not even the least bit interested in anything you're talking not even the slightest bit your mind all night long has been drifting off to something else have it spread apart when Peter heard this you know what it did it shook him when Jesus said this to Peter Peter Peter it shook him up it shook him up so much that he said in the next verse and Peter said Lord are you addressing this parable to us or to everyone else as well in other words Lord could you possibly be including us in this with the church today they hear it and they apply it down the street they apply it to somebody else but Peter he wanted to know God could this be in his lap you know why Peter had before his eyes the fear of God I want to tell you what the fear of God is Proverbs 8 13 says the fear of God's to hate evil let me tell you how God showed me what the fear of God was now listen to me carefully I was in an office and I picked up a magazine it was a life magazine and had a picture of a big grizzly on the front of it and I'm fascinated by grizzlies especially when they're just in magazines so I opened the magazine up and I began to read about this these grizzlies and I came to an article about a woman a mother 5'4 124 pounds she lived on the edge of the woods somewhere in the north she heard this scream out back and she recognized it was the voice of her little son five or six years old she rushed to the back of the house and when she got to the door she saw a grizzly and in his paws and in his mouth was her son she grabbed the closest thing next to her which was a broom and she attacked that grizzly and chased him into the woods God spoke to my heart and he said because that woman so loved her son she feared nothing whatsoever not even her own life just to protect the object of her life and God said sin the lust of the eyes the lust of the flesh and the boastful pride of life is up there you're that woman that mother and I Jesus and that boy in the mouth of the grizzly and to walk in the fear of the Lord is to so love Jesus with all your heart that you will not let one thing rob you of the object of your life and when you fear God like that you will absolutely fear nothing else except losing the object of your life are you hearing what I'm saying and everything else will go in comparison to it that's the fear of God when you fear God that's why you hate sin because sin robbed you of your love relationship with God and when you have God there's no need to fear anything else are you with me Peter so had to fear God before his eyes that when Jesus even slightly mentioned that some people might not be ready Peter said Lord could you possibly be talking about me are you hearing me I said are you hearing me he didn't he didn't look down the street he didn't look at the other people standing there and I want you to see what God said to him we said the harlot the spirit of harlotry within you robs you of being faithful to God is that what we've read look at the answer Jesus gave him Jesus now listen to me Jesus didn't say no Peter no because you you you've had an experience with me and so Peter everything's all right with you I was talking about other people no no Peter I'm really don't you worry about it my son because you don't even have to be concerned because I I know who you are Peter my goodness you've been walking with me all this time and so Peter you're all right no Jesus didn't say that at all he said in verse 42 and the Lord said who then is the faithful and sensible steward whom his master will put in charge of all of his servants to give him their rations at the proper time now remember the subject is whether or not you're going to be ready when Jesus comes how many of you see that the subject and he says blessed is that slave whom the master soul finds doing when he comes truly I say to you he'll put him in charge of all his possessions but if that slave says what in his heart his heart's not right my master will be a long time in coming it's going to be a while it begins to beat the slaves both men and women to eat and drink and get drunk and I want you to understand he's not just talking about alcoholics he's talking about people we're going to see in a minute he's talking about he's talking about people who no longer are concerned about righteousness and holiness just satisfying their flesh are you hearing what I'm saying and here's what he says this is the new testament isn't it he is talking about believers isn't he the master of that slave verse 46 will come in a bit did he say he was master he said the man was a slave is somebody in the world do they call Jesus master are they a the master that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him at an hour he does not know and he will cut him in pieces does that sound like covenant breaking covenant and assign him a place with the unbelievers are you hearing what I'm saying turn with me to Luke chapter 14 because I want you to see this there were a group of religious people around and in Luke chapter 14 verse one it came about then when he went to the house of one of the leaders of the pharisees on the sabbath to eat bread that they were watching him closely and there in front of him was a certain man suffering from dropsy and since Jesus was a messenger of the covenant he just operated in the covenant and he said and Jesus answered and spoke to the lawyers and pharisees saying is it lawful to heal on the sabbath or not but they kept silent took hold of him and he took hold of him and healed him and sent him away now let me ask you a question what do you think their heart was was their heart with Jesus or in their own traditions all right now notice this Jesus said to them and he said to them which one of you shall have a son or an ox fall into a well and will not immediately pull it out on the sabbath day they could make no reply to this you know why they couldn't make a reply because they knew exactly what they'd do they'd go get their ox and go get their son but to say it now would have embarrassed them are you hearing what I'm saying so they didn't say anything so he began to speak a parable and look at this he began speaking a parable to the invited guests when he noticed how they'd been picking out the places of honor at the table saying to them when you're invited by someone to a wedding feast do not take the place of honor lest someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him and he who invited you both shall come and say to you give place to this man and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place but when you're invited go and recline at the last place so that when one who has invited you comes he may say to you friend move up higher and then you'll have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled and he who humbles himself shall be exalted may I tell you what he just said he said there's going to be banquets it's going to be dinner that dinner has an honored guest that's coming now make sure that you don't try to go to that banquet by taking the seat of honor that's reserved for the guest because if you take this seat of honor that's reserved for the guest when the guest comes you have to get up and give it to him in other words when king jesus comes make sure you're not sitting on the throne of your heart or you won't be at the table are you hearing what I'm saying that you'll be asked to leave and then he began to relate it to three people and they all three had an excuse about why they couldn't come to the table and he talks about it in verse 15 and when one of those who were reclining at the table heard with him heard this he said to him blessed is everyone who shall eat bread in the kingdom of god what he said to him you see what you understand that man heard this now listen to me that man heard it he heard it and you know what he's saying he said amen boy that's good man that's good preaching man that that's a oh that's a good thing to say boy that's a good parable from blessed is the man who eats bread in the kingdom of god jesus turned to him and said well but he said to him verse 16 a certain man was giving a big dinner he invited many and at the dinner hour he sent his slave to say to those who had been invited come for everything's ready now but they all began to make excuses the first one said to him i bought a piece of land i need to go out and look at it please commission the excuse does that sound to you like something had the lust of his eyes and and to another to another he said verse 19 another one said i bought five yoke of oxen i'm going to try them out please consider makes you does that sound like the lust of his flesh at his heart are you hearing me and then the third one which almost sounds reasonable because he said in verse 20 i've married a wife and for that reason i can't come but you know what he was saying he's saying i god i've got a covenant relationship that's more important to me than my covenant relationship with you you know what god said god said in verse 26 if anyone and oh how sad because these verses are so familiar to us if anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters see he's trying to pick out the most precious things in your life but you know some of you may not have had a good mother and father and brother and sister relationship so just to make sure he doesn't miss any of us he says and yes even his own life he cannot he cannot be my disciple can i tell you in simple terms what that means if the fear of me is not before his eyes if i am not the object of his life he can't be my disciple are you hearing what i'm saying unless i have your whole heart you cannot be mine now remember i said and i want to say it again for god to have your whole heart means this whenever you see something that's not like jesus in your life you say god i want that god i want you to have my heart it's not somebody who's perfect it's not somebody who's got it all worked out it's somebody who keeps choosing jesus over the desires of his own heart are you with me now when you do that the fear of god is put before your eyes because you don't want to lose that object of your love at any cost are you with me i say are you with me now when you do that here's what god does turn with me to psalm 34 psalm 34 when you have the fear of god before your eyes god comes in covenants and look what he does psalm 34 psalm 34 verse 7 the angel of the lord in camps around those who fear him and he rescues them how many of you see that when you walk with the fear of god before your eyes god makes sure there are angels of the lord in camping round about you and whatever comes against you god says i'll rescue you are you saying that now notice this he says oh taste and see that the lord is good how blessed is the man who takes refuge in him oh fear the lord who's supposed to fear the lord you his saints for to those who fear him there's what there's no wants young lions do lack and suffer hunger but they who seek the lord shall not be in want of any good thing now look at this come you children listen to me i god will teach you the fear of the lord god says if it's not there come to me with your whole heart and god says i love you enough i'll teach it to you are you here turn to psalm 25 psalm 25 verse 8 psalm 25 verse 8 good and upright is the lord therefore he instructs sinners in the way he leads the humble injustice and he teaches the humble his way all the paths of the lord are loving kindness and truth we read this the first night but i hope it means more to you now all the paths of the lord are loving kindness and truth to whom to those who keep his covenant and his testimonies for thy name's sake oh lord pardon my iniquity for it is great who is the man who fears the lord what's he going to do if you fear the lord he will instruct him in the way he should choose his soul will abide in prosperity his descendants will inherit the land and the secret of the lord is for those who fear them and he'll make them know his covenant and the covenant is what contains everything pertaining to life and godliness and makes you a partaker of a divine nature and escapes the corruption that's in the world through love are you hearing what i'm saying and that's what god has one other scripture and we're going to close tonight jeremiah jeremiah chapter 29 jeremiah chapter 29 jeremiah chapter 29 verse 11 here's what god says god says for i know the plans that i have for you the king james says i know the thoughts that i think towards you declares the lord plans for welfare and not for calamity or thoughts of peace and not for evil to give you a future and a hope or an expected end how would you see that god says my thoughts toward you are thoughts of peace they're not for your calamity but for your welfare they're not for evil but i god desire to give you an expected end now can i tell you what this means it doesn't mean just an expected end when he comes he says i desire to give you a hope and a future i desire for you to know what tomorrow brings for i desire for you not to walk in the fear of the world i desire that you not be harassed by the torments of the world because fear has torment but my fear within you and there's no need for you to fear anything else are you doing what i'm saying because my thoughts toward you are this way then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and i'll listen to you and you'll seek me and you'll find me when when you search for me with how much of your heart all your heart and i'll be found by you declares the lord and i will restore your fortunes i have one other scripture i do want to share with you isaiah 8 i want you to see isaiah chapter 8 and then look once isaiah chapter 8 verse 11 for thus the lord spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people in other words he told me not to walk now you find out those people are the ones that have rejected truth their hearts not faithful toward god they're not walking in repentance and god said he instructed me not to walk like those people are walking are you hearing me and here's what he said you're not to say it's a conspiracy in regard to all that this people call a conspiracy you know what what that means you see the minute you begin to rise up and take a stand for jesus with all your heart you can count on some religious folk talking about you rising up in a conspiracy are you hearing what i'm saying and he says you're not to call a conspiracy not to walk the way of this people and you're not to say it's a conspiracy in regard to all this people call a conspiracy and you are not to fear what they fear or being dread of it it is the lord of folks whom you should regard as holy and he shall be your fear and he shall be your dread then he shall become you see when you walk in the fear of the lord god makes his covenant known to you not just so you can know it up here so you can walk in it the limitation you need to examine your heart you need to examine your heart of every doctrine every tradition of man everything you've held on to that the adulterous used to rob the fear of god before your eyes and you need to ask god to give you and teach you and re-institute in you the fear of him because when you walk in the fear of him you won't have to stumble like you've always stumbled and fall and get up and stumble and fall and get up but he says i'll direct you in your paths and i god will keep you from evil if you put the fear of me before your eyes without it sin is going to continually speak to your heart are you hearing what i'm saying i want to pray this concludes tape number eight please proceed to tape number nine where this message continues