Mar Mari Emmanuel teaches that the true secret weapon in the Christian life is the fear of the Lord, which is rooted in love and leads to repentance, transformation, and salvation through Jesus Christ.
In this devotional sermon, Mar Mari Emmanuel explores the profound meaning of the fear of the Lord as a loving reverence that leads to transformation and salvation. Using the example of the thief on the cross and the prophecy of Isaiah, he emphasizes that turning to the crucified Jesus is the key to forgiveness and eternal life. Listeners are encouraged to embrace God's love, seek His forgiveness, and experience the power of Christ to change their lives completely.
Full Transcript
Fearing the Lord means loving the Lord. I began to love the Lord Jesus. Now, since I began to love the Lord, I will tell my friend, have you no fear of God? How dare you talk to this holy man in such inappropriate way? How dare you? Wow, what a great man is.
Before he was the same as his friend. My dear people, Jesus Christ changes people. Jesus Christ changes your way of thinking, your way of talking, your way of walking, your way of everything.
He changes it. All you need to do is turn to the crucified Messiah and he will change you. All the foul language he will turn it into praises.
All the dark alleys will turn him into the light. Jesus is known to change. A Christian that has the fear of the Lord seeks forgiveness.
A Christian that has the fear of the Lord seeks forgiveness. You will never, you will never ask the Lord to forgive you until you have the fear of the Lord in your heart. Because if you do not love him, you will never ask him to forgive you.
And you wouldn't even care about asking him to forgive you. It is that love, that fear of the Lord. What is fear of the Lord? You see, it's not afraid of the Lord.
I'm not afraid of him. I fear him. You see, afraid is, if I do something wrong, I'm afraid because he will chop my head and he'll throw me in hell.
But fear of the Lord, I do not want to do anything wrong. I am afraid of breaking his heart. He is too much love, not worthy to be broken.
I fear hurting him. I don't want to make him sad. I don't want to upset him.
I don't want to make him cry. I don't want to break his heart because he is love and I love him because he loved me from the very beginning. I will try to do everything possible through his grace not to break him or hurt him in any way.
This is the fear of the Lord, i.e. I love the Lord Jesus. See, when you love the Lord Jesus, you will always seek his forgiveness. Lord, I'm sorry.
I am so sorry. I did this and I said this. I didn't want to.
It is my human weakness. Please forgive me, Lord. You know that I love you.
Like Simon, like Simon Peter, he said, Simon son of Jonah, do you love me? You see, do you love me? Do you fear me? Do you have the fear of the Lord in your heart? He said, Lord, you know that I love you. You know everything, Lord. I will always put you number one and then me.
You know that I love you, Lord. But I'm weak. When we fall into the wrong place, when we do the wrong thing, all we need to do, turn to the crucified Messiah.
Don't run away. Run to him. Don't run away from him.
Run to him, my beloved, and say, Lord, I'm sorry. Forgive me. You know that I love you, but I'm weak living in this weak flesh.
I get tempted. I fall. I slip.
I slide. I walk away. Please forgive me, Daddy.
And he will. And he will. When you have the fear of the Lord, the love of Christ in your heart, you will seek his forgiveness.
And when you seek his forgiveness, then what do you do? You confess that you're guilty. The confession of guilt. When we come and confess to the Lord Jesus that we've done this wrong, and we've said this wrong, and we shouldn't have, and we are sorry for what we've done, the Lord is faithful that he will forgive us our sins.
He is faithful. When you confess that Christ is perfect and you're not. When we confess the perfection of Christ and we are absolutely imperfect humans, you are the perfect one, Lord.
How did this, when did this thief say or acknowledge or confess Christ's perfection? When he said, when he said to his friend, don't you have the fear of the Lord, of God? Don't you fear God? He said, but this, referring to Jesus, he said, but this, but this, he has done nothing out of place. But this, everything he said, everything he's done, is absolutely perfect. He said things in the perfect timing, and he did things in the perfect timing.
This is the perfect one. We are worthy of this, being crucified and sentenced to death. We deserve it because everything that we've done on earth was evil.
But this, he's done nothing that is worthy of the cross. He's done nothing that is worthy of the cross. But this, again, in the Arabic language, it's called the demonstrative noun.
But this, the only way you can say it, is when you look at the person you mean. But this. Now, this guy is nailed on the cross.
His hands, his feet are nailed. He can't move, neither his legs nor his hands. The only thing he can move is his head.
So when he said, but this, he turned his face to the Lord Jesus, and he faced him. The moment he turned his face to the Lord and said, but this, the prophecy of Isaiah, in Isaiah 45, 22 was fulfilled. What does Isaiah 45, 22 say? Look to me and be saved all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other.
Oh my goodness. What? Look to me and be saved all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other. When this thief looked at Jesus Christ, by turning to the Lord, he was saved.
For God promised, in Isaiah 45, 22, whoever looks to me will be saved, for I am God and there is no other. So for anyone to come and say, this Jesus that was nailed on the cross is not God, then explain to me Isaiah 45, 22. He didn't say, look to me, for my dad is God.
No, he said, for I am God and there is no other. And there's no other. By looking at the Lord.
Is that all it takes? Yes. Can you be saved easily? 100% yes. For as long as you live in the flesh, don't wait afterwards and start elaborating.
Please don't. You haven't been to the other side. Why waste your time, precious time, talking about something you've never seen on the other side? You want to be saved the best way, the easiest way? While in the flesh, my dear friend.
Don't wait. While in the flesh. It's very easy.
All you need to do is turn to the crucified Jesus and say, Lord, remember me in your second coming. What did the Lord Jesus say to this poor man? Truly, I say to you today, you are with me in paradise. Not in my second coming, my dear friend.
If you were going to wait for my second coming, it's been 2022 years and counting. Today you will be with me in paradise. When the Lord Jesus said to this man, today you will be with me in paradise.
Every single second, minute, hour, day, week, month, year, this man lost in sin, in evilness. Every single moment was redeemed by the Lord Jesus through the faith of this man in Christ was redeemed. Nothing is lost.
How many years have you lost in this world? Let Jesus redeem it for you. Give your life to the Lord Jesus and he will make sure nothing is gone in vain. Nothing.
So don't cry about the time that has gone by in absolute vanity. Focus on Christ and turn to him and look at the crucified. For the crucified Messiah is my glory.
I boost in no one, but Jesus Christ being crucified. This is the glory of me. Christ crucified.
Sermon Outline
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I. Understanding the Fear of the Lord
- Fear of the Lord is rooted in love, not terror
- It means not wanting to break God's heart
- It leads to a desire for forgiveness
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II. Transformation Through Jesus Christ
- Jesus changes our thoughts, words, and actions
- Turning to the crucified Messiah brings change
- Darkness is turned into light through Christ
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III. Confession and Forgiveness
- Confessing our guilt is essential
- Christ is perfect, we are imperfect
- God is faithful to forgive those who repent
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IV. Salvation by Looking to Jesus
- The thief on the cross as an example of faith
- Isaiah 45:22 promises salvation to all who look to God
- Salvation is immediate and assured through Christ
Key Quotes
“Fearing the Lord means loving the Lord.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
“I fear hurting him. I don't want to make him sad. I don't want to upset him.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
“Look to me and be saved all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other.” — Mar Mari Emmanuel
Application Points
- Cultivate a loving fear of God that motivates you to avoid sin and seek forgiveness.
- When you fall, run to Jesus immediately and confess your sins with a repentant heart.
- Trust in the promise of salvation by looking to Jesus Christ, no matter your past.
