Fear Not, I Count You Righteous by Faith

Good morning. My name is Garner Simpson, one of the pastors here. We're thrilled you guys are joining us on this first Sunday of Advent. Very special. We celebrate his first appearing.

That's Advent means. That's what Advent means, his first coming. And we look forward to his second appearing, the second advent of when he comes to rain and rule. Today we come to the book of Genesis. If you haven't been with us we're studying the book verse by verses walking through it. We're in chapter 15.

We're making our way. I had hoped to look at six verses today. We're not. We're looking at one to really important verse. So a lot here, it's kind of pregnant with a lot of depth and meaning and could have squeezed more in. But I think it's just too important to miss the heart of what's here in just this one verse that I think you're gonna find incredibly relatable.

But Genesis is the book of beginnings. And it's broken down to two parts, pillars and patriarchs. The first half is the foundation of all of life, of who God is and who we are and why we're here and what God created. The second part is all about these patriarchs. The first one being Abram, who's later his name is turned to Abraham.

But this is the story we see of God working in the life of a man, and he's the father of faith and he is the one we can look at to see how God relates to him, and then understand that's how God will relate to us. And we can see this picture of what faithfulness looks like in scripture and we can see it in Abrams life.

And so far what we've seen is God's given him five tests and he's four and one on the season of his life. At this point, not too bad, but today we come to a significant moment in Abram's life. A pivotal developmental day in the life of Abram. It's a moment he needs to hear from God. and God shows up and God speaks.

And I want you to see what God says. So follow along with me as I read I'm just gonna read verse one after these things. The word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision, fear, not Abraham. I am your shield. Your reward shall be very great. Father, we come to you in your word, and we just ask now that you speak to us.

Lord there's so much here for our hearts to hear, for you to share with us, for you to lead us and convict us and encourage us with Lord the very heart of salvation is here for us today. And so, Lord, I just ask that you would speak as only you can to the depths of our hearts.

Lord as we deal with fears that we all have father will we be honest with you And when we lay those fears at your feet, . And Father, may you take those fears and redeem them for your glory and replace them with peace and faith and trust in you. And so Father, now speak to us as only you can open the eyes of our hearts to hear from you this day, for it's in Christ.

And we pray and by your spirit, we ask. Amen. Two things. We're gonna look at being grip by fear. What's the first one? The second one is God's gonna speak and we're gonna see what he has to say to speak into these fears. Number one, grip by fear as we come to the very first three words of verse one after these things.

Now, if you, me, with this quick review, make sure you understand this, we have to remember where we are. Last week in Genesis 14, we saw Abram. He took a stance by no desire of his own he, but he is forced to engage into a battle, into a war in order to rescue his nephew. Law. And in doing so, he engages the world around him.

He steps right into a public spotlight. He was off living a quiet life under the radar in Cognito, if you will, waiting on the blessing from the Lord, the Abraham Covenant to be fulfilled. But God has other plans. This man was so small that prior to this war, when the Canaanite Coalition came in to battle and there's these five kings versus these four kings, they overlooked him.

They didn't see him as a threat. They didn't even see him as someone who grab as an alliance with them. They didn't see him as someone they should plunder his stuff. He was literally just not even a voice in the fight with his meager 318 men that had been raised in his house, his own little army, not considered a threat.

So they leave him alone. They don't even attack him or ask him to join. And yet In one battle that he wins, he went from bottom of the rung in Canaan to the very top, and he knocks off four kings and he becomes a marked man. From that day forward, he now is a bullseye on his forehead. Until then he was a nobody, but now he's a key man to be reckoned with.

And on top of all that, he gave away more money and more goods in one moment than he could ever make in a lifetime. When he handed the way the spoils of war, he literally handed over a king's ransom, not wanting to take one thing from the king of Sodom after tithing to je. So what do he thinks in his mind?

I mean, after these things, God's gonna speak. What is Abram thinking at this point? He's just won this war. Do you picture it in his mind? Like you watch football on television, right? You know, they go back, you know, into the locker room and you know, they're all celebrating high fiving each other, you know, pouring champagne over he and Sarah, Hey, we won.

Is that how you picture Abram at this point? Because sometimes that's what we read into it. We just kinda assume he's gotta be thrilled, he's gotta be happy. The problem is that the verse that comes next is God comes to Abram and says, do not fear because I am your shield and your award, your reward is great.

Now, why on earth would God say that at this moment? Unless something else was going on in the heart of Abram? See, God knows the hearts of men and he knows what's going on in Abram's heart and he knows that Abram is actually scared that there's fear. Well, scared of what well think if you're Abram. How about fear of payback?

You're a marked guy. You just won a war. You don't think they're gonna try to come get you. You don't think they're mad, you don't think they're upset. He's got four kings that won his life. Well, what if you're in his own mind wrestling and maybe he's second guessing himself. He did all that. He's now a marked man in order to save a nephew lot who's just nothing but trouble.

And now he's given away a king's ransom. He's given away more money, and maybe he's second guessing himself on that decision. What's going on in his mind? He's scared. There's fear building up in his heart as a old football player. An old football coach, we had a word for this. It's called hearing footsteps.

In high school, I was a quarterback, but in college I played wide receiver. And there's times as a wide receiver, you have to go across the middle. And when you go across the middle, there's guys a lot bigger than you in there. A, and you've gotta get your head on a swivel and you've gotta really focus and run your route and concentrate because they're about to throw the ball.

And if they throw it high, they throw it low, they throw it slow your job's to catch the ball. But if you hear footsteps, you'll slow up. You'll short arm it with your hands like this, you'll start bracing. Instead of watching the ball, you'll brace cuz you're about to get hit. There's some guys who are just fearless.

They go across the middle with no regard for their own body. Other guys, they look like tar and play like Jane and they're always, you know, flinching. But I'll tell you, there's something about this. If you hear footsteps, you'll take your eye off of the goal. You won't concentrate on the ball, you'll think about the guy hitting you.

More than you doing your role in catching the ball and getting a first down or scoring a touchdown or making a big play. And essentially when you have your eyes focused on the enemy too much, you know what happens? It's almost like a self-fulfilling prophecy. You drop the ball or you fumble the ball if you happen to catch it with a big hit.

Cause you're more scared about what's going to happen than what actually is happening. And you play fearful, you play scared, you play tentative.

And everyone on the team just so you know, knows they can't count on you cuz you play scared and when tough situations happen, you shrink rather than galvanize. And so you just don't throw them the ball because, well that guy here hears footsteps, he plays it safe. He considers his own safety. And wellbeing more than the goal of the team.

He won't sacrifice for others. He won't give of himself away. He's tentative, he plays it safe. He's not a team player. He's kind of selfish. You see, Genesis 14 is this key chapter in the development of Abram that we saw last week. God used that to really, you know, get Abram ready because here's what's happening is Abram's faith goes from building altars and negotiating with his nephew lot in chapter 12 and 13, to putting now his life on the line in chapter 14 as he enters into this battle to save lot.

But as a result of that for the first time, his relationship with God is not just something internal and personal. It affects his entire life and it affects his bank account. And when that happens, when devotion to God steps up, all of a sudden the Christian life gets real serious, real fast and you find out that it's a real war and you start hearing footsteps as a Christian.

See, I think there's an innate fear that really grips the heart of all men and women in the wake of really being committed to the Lord. The moment you really go all in, you push your chips to the middle of the table and you say, it's no longer my life. My life is yours. I'm in is the moment, usually the battle rages highest.

And you find out that the Christian life is not playing games, but it's for keeps and it's real. And a lot of people in those moments retreat, they pull back, they no longer charge. Because it all was fun when we were at camp and Sunday morning was great. But then, you know, I went out to school Monday morning and it got real.

And it was hard to take a stand there, easy to take a stand here,

and all of a sudden the Christian life is playing for keeps and it can cost you everything. There's something about devotion to God that it gets real and fear in your heart says, look I'm committed to God but it's gonna cost me something. Yeah, that's right. It could cost me success. Yes. It, it could get me killed.

Yes, it could. Following Christ can cost you everything. Absolutely. That's what it is to be a Christian. Don't let anyone sell you anything else. Jesus says, how many times you follow me? You may not have a place to lay your head at night. You know? You follow me? It's gonna cost you everything, but I'm greater than everything and it's worth it.

It's funny, but it there, there's something that happens in our hearts and these moments, and we, a lie kicks in us the lie that's been there since the beginning in the garden, right? And the lie goes like this in the Garden of Eden, the serpent whispers in your heart that you know the day you eat of it, right?

You're gonna be just like God knowing good and evil. The day you get real, you're gonna be like him. In other words, devotion to God is not in your best interest. Don't go down that right, that, that route. And in this moment, Abram begins to hear footsteps. Yes, he had victory, but all of a sudden it's getting real.

And he's starting to think in his mind, in his heart about what comes next. And anyone here who's ever committed your life, To Christ. I mean, lock, stock, and barrel all in you. You commit thread and thong to like Abram, right? You know exactly what I'm talking about hearing footsteps and second guessing and being scared.

I've heard 'em too. I know the fear that comes in the moment of commitment and going all in.

But you know what I found out as a new believer, not only was it gonna be harder at school, harder on the team, harder in the neighborhood, harder with friends, but I found out that God was so real. And what wasn't real was my version of life. My idea of life was an illusion. God was real. My false plans, my false view of him, my false view of life.

And I found out real soon as a new believer that his word was suffocatingly real. That there was nothing that escaped his thought and his sight and no thought, no action, no word, no deed, no relationship. That did not demand his sovereign governing of his hand in my life. Everything fell under.

There was not. This is for God, this is for me. Everything fell underneath God, no element of my life that isn't now reciprocal to sewing and reaping results. And I found out that God was more than real. I found out that Christianity was true in playing for keeps. And I also found out if I start hearing footsteps, I'll pull back and I'll play it safe.

And I'll lower my head. I'll close my eyes. I'll wince, I'll flinch.

Because I realize it's gonna cost dearly to follow Christ. And so my question to you is are you hearing footsteps this morning? Maybe you've become a believer recently. Maybe you've been a believer for a while, but you find yourself in a place where all of a sudden you're scared to truly live for Christ, to take a stand for Christ.

You're hearing footsteps and you're starting to brace rather than play and trust.

It looks like this. If you're in the business world you just became a Christian, you're on fire for Christ, something big happened. You went to a conference, went to a retreat, had special Sunday morning. I just really spoke to your heart, you know, and then you go to work on Monday and you find out that faith in Christ isn't near as exciting to others.

And it separates you from your peers and customers and management. And all of a sudden you start reevaluating cuz you're hearing footsteps. , you start counting the costs about this faith in Christ business. Or maybe it's you as a teacher, an educator, professor, whatever it is you may teach in education and you make a commitment to God, to, to truly, you know, stand for him in the classroom, on the campus.

But you find out real quick that it creates conflict between you and colleagues and students and administration. And you start hearing footsteps or maybe it's you as a musician or whatever art you may be and talent wise, and all of a sudden you can't play certain songs anymore. You can't sing certain lyrics anymore cuz there's a conviction growing in your heart that doesn't honor God.

And now it's gonna cost you a gig. It's gonna cost you in the pocketbook. And you start hearing footsteps or maybe you're a young man or a young girl, Christian, new to Faith, excited. You had a one of those, you know, on fire for Jesus kind of moments in your life and you commit your heart to staying pure and following God and dating life.

And you walk away fired up only to begin to have one Friday night after another where you're staying at home and years passed. And the, because you decided to narrow the field of who qualifies as Prince charming you after years and years begin to wonder if Prince Charming exists and you start to hear footstep.

And you start considering if you're really all in, maybe I can compromise, maybe I can punt, maybe God understands. Totally he understands. Or maybe you're a preacher, a pastor, you go to some conference and all of a sudden you're fired up for Christ and you're gonna go back home and you're gonna teach the word of God verse by verse.

You're gonna just lay it bare. Come what may. And you find out in about a month that not too many churches in this day and age want to hear what God has to say. And you start hearing footsteps and you pull back and you head on back to doing some topical stuff cuz it's safer. It allows me to avoid certain texts.

Just play it safe.

Maybe you're a student, middle school, high school, college, it doesn't matter, elementary, and you've met Christ, you're on fire. And you head in there Monday morning and you find out not everybody's near as excited about it as you are in your school. And what was so easy at, you know, camp feels so distant.

You don't even know where to begin in the classroom or on the field or on the court. And it's one thing to be on fire for Christ at camp, sing your songs, you know, share your testimony. It's quite another to do it out in the world. And you start hearing footsteps. This is Abram. He's going from building altars, negotiating with his nephew to all of a sudden entering to wars.

And it's now life and death in it's real. And he's hearing footsteps. All of a sudden what he says, he believes his orthodoxy has to now enter into his orthodoxy. And all of a sudden when those two meet, there's tension, there's conflict, there's fear, because it gets real.

Because if I live out, what I really believe I'm gonna come across as a radical, but in mathematics, do you know what a radical is? A radical is at sign you put over a number to find its square root. I don't know if you know this, but the idea of a radical is to find out what a number is rooted in.

To be a Christian, to be a radical Christian is the idea of finding out and living out what it is you say you're rooted in, which is the gospel of Christ Jesus. And it is one thing to say, believe something. It is quite another by faith to live out that faith. Abram had a quiet life and now he is thrown into the spotlight and he has a target on his forehead.

You remember that one far? Side gallery man, Gary Lar. He was so funny. There's a deer walking by in the forest and he has this target on his chest and the other two deers are behind the tree going, bummer of a birthmark. . You know, it looks like a bullseye on this. Oh, this is so funny to me. But. When you become a Christian, bummer of a birthmark, you get this bullseye on your head.

You get this bullseye on your heart and your life, and you find out real quick what you're made of. And you find out real quick that you don't have what it takes. You're gonna need something only God can give and it gets real. See, to be radical means you've been gripped with something at the inner part of your heart, and all of a sudden there's a passion burning of fire burning inside there that gets, is just roaring.

Have you been there? Cause I've been there and it's scary at times. And just so you know I still get nervous every time I come out here where I'm gonna stand and go. Thus, as the Lord back there, my heart's racing and I'm nervous. I've been doing this a long time. Still nervous, steer fearful, still fearful.

Still going, God, if you don't show up this is awful. Nothing's gonna happen. Cause if you don't accompany your words, salvation doesn't come. Conviction doesn't come. That's the only thing that changes lives, is God. Everything else we're just the messenger. You.

But it's real easy in this world to start hearing footsteps. And you know what Abram needs. You know what you need. You know what I need when I start hearing footsteps. I need a fresh word from God. I need to hear from his word and be reminded of who he is and what He's done and why I'm here. And how it's not about me, it's about him.

My life is not my own. I am simply a vessel. I am simply a servant of the great king. So, alright, let's go. But I have to remind myself of that cuz that's easy said in this moment. Very hard. When you're in the moment, easy to sing. Hallelujah. In here. Whole different ballgame. Out there, and yet it's out there that we're called to be salt light, to live out our faith and go make disciples.

Are you hearing footsteps today? Because if you are, and I think we all are to some degree all the time, then we need to hear what God did and said to Abram. That brings us to our second point where God speaks after these things. Those are the, after these things, look what happens. The word of the Lord came to Abraham in a vision.

The word Lord came so, so God comes to him and this is what a good father does. A good father comes to his son when he senses, Hey, something's going on in his heart. Something. The worry, there's anxiousness, there's fear there. I can sense it. I can pick up on it. I'm discerning it. And here comes a father out of great love coming to his son, and he speaks what he knows his son needs to hear.

And that's exactly what a loving father does. He speaks, and in this case, the Lord came to Abram And A vision is where God shows you a future. While awake in a dream, the difference would be God shows you a future when you're asleep. So here he comes to him in this vision. Now I would say to you that they had this privilege that this is, you know, true direct revelation from God in that time.

We have the privilege of God's word already been given to us and God's word that they didn't have at that time. And here God is now speaking and look what God tells him. He says, fear not Abraham. I'm your shield. Your reward shall be very great. I just wanna pull this apart because every phrase here is huge for us to hear.

God tells Abraham what he needed to hear just as he's hearing footsteps and he's basically saying, I'm here with you. You're not alone. We know verses in the New Testament. I'll never leave you never forsake you. I am with you always. God tells us, I am your shield. Don't worry, don't be afraid. . And just so you know what's that tell you about God and his timing?

What does God know? I mean what does this really tell us? Cuz this isn't just true of Abraham. What's true of Abraham? It's true of you. And what do we find out here is that we know that God knows when we feel weak. Does he not? God knows when. When you're scared, God knows when you're anxious. God knows when you're nervous.

God knows when you feel vulnerable. You're not alone in that. Is that comforting to you? That in your moment where you're the weakest, God knows and he's right there with you. You're never alone. He knows when you're going across the middle and everything in you wants to flinch cuz you're about to get popped.

And he's saying, trust me, he knows when you're hearing footsteps, he knows and he speaks into it and he says three things. That I want us to never forget. The first thing he says is fear. Not a Abraham calls him by name. Very personal God. He knows him obviously, but he says, fear not. Did you know scripture says, fear not, or do not be afraid.

Almost 300 times. If you just rated on quantity, it's the number one command given by God. Do not be afraid. Fear not now. Now, why do you think that's had? That has to be repeated so many times just so you don't feel alone this morning in your own fear. Because just so you know, everyone has fears in here, and your fears are no big deal.

The person sitting next to you and their fears are no big deal to you. But just know that because the truth is we all have fears and there's something that just grips our heart. And it may not be a big deal for the person sitting next to you, but it's a big deal to you. And if we can just be gracious to each other, we go.

We all have fears to some degrees, and because of that, God has to repeat it almost 300 times because he knows something that we all face so often is to be gripped with fear. And it's a lesson that we're constantly learning as we walk through life. Amen. There's a lot of fears. We live, oh my goodness. In a day and age where fear is gripping the entire world, there are personal fears.

Yes. But what about national fears? I, how much debt can we really take on? How about global fears? Wars here, wars there.

But here's the Lord saying, fear not. And just so you know, it is a command. But if you hear it as a command, I think it comes across in a much, I think it can lead to some strange understanding of the heart of God, rather, I think we're supposed to see it as an invitation to trust him, to come to him, to run to him, to fall before him, to cry out to him as a loving father.

You know if my kid comes to me in the middle of the night and having a bad dream. Right. If I yell at her fear not , you know, I made create a whole nother problem. You know, we're in counseling the next month or two for ptsd. You know, it's a dad that did not help. I'm now scared of you, . You know, that doesn't help.

But if you hear an invitation, honey, I'm here. I'm with you. You're not alone. Wake up. Look at me. You see me? That wasn't real. This is real. You. All right, hang on. Just hold me for a moment. And all of a sudden, a loving father steps into that moment and says, fear. Not just think about how many times you hear fear not in scripture.

And it's always just so you know, almost always accompanied. It's in the meaning, even if it's not stated all the time. Fear not. I'm with you. Fear not. I'm with you. Why do we fear not he's there? You're not alone. I've got you.

But that the truth is fear not is an invitation to, to run to God, to trust God, to fear not. You See, when you have fear, anxiety you, you sense danger. Do you know that there's a hard wiring that goes on in your body and it's there from God? It's how we're built. And your blood pressure goes up, your heart rate increases, your cortisol levels go up.

This is all this happens. Anytime you sense these things, your adrenaline goes up and you're on alert. This is why if it happens to you late at night, you cannot sleep. It's hard to come down. And this is why you know so many of us, we live in this kind of state and fear that your energy level is just being drained from you.

Which is why there's an incredible market, because everyone crashes in the afternoon for caffeine and you know, drinks, you know these energy drinks and you drink so many of them, you can't sleep at night. And this is where real problems happen. Alcohol kicks in, sleeping medicine kicks in because your body begins to break down because of the stress and anxiety and the danger.

And we live in a day and age. Do we not wear it? Man, your phone will trigger all kind of fears, you know, a hundred times a day if you just look at it all day.

Well, some of you, your fears around all different things and that it's okay, maybe it's finances for you. Maybe it's around your health, maybe it's relationships. Maybe it's your own safety, security. Maybe it's the lack of control in your life. We all got fears and we're triggered by fear.

And we had this biological response that God has given us on the brain and in the mind. But here's the problem. If it continues on and it goes outta control it's gonna mess up your heart and your soul. Did you know there's four ways to respond to fear. There's fight, flight, freeze, and faith.

Fight. You're gonna take it on. You're gonna escalate it, and you're gonna agitate it, and you're gonna deal with it. You're gonna conquer it. That's how you deal with fear. Helpful at times. Then there's also flight. I'm scared. I'm gonna hide. I'm gonna run. I'm gonna retreat. I'm gonna withdraw. I'm gonna pull away.

I'm gonna find a safe place. Also very helpful at times to live, to fight another day. Not just to fight every battle, but to choose your battles. Know which ones to fight, but then fear can also have a moment where you freeze. I don't know what to do. You just kind of panic. You do nothing. The fourth option is faith.

I'm gonna turn to God and I'm gonna ask him to get me through it. And what happens when fear comes is we think this, I mean, this is why fear grips us. We sense something in a moment that's bigger than us, we can't control it. It's a much bigger enemy. So, so whatever you're envisioning in that moment you sense something that creates fear in your life, it's usually cuz it's outside of your control, it's that big and it grabs you.

But it's at that moment you have to remind yourself wait. God's bigger than it.

And I think this is why God tells us fear not I'm your shield, meaning I'm with you. Second Timothy, you know, one, seven, God did not give you an i, a spirit of fear that is not from God.

By the way, who needs a shield? If he's gonna give us a shield? Who needs a shield? It's somebody who's being attacked. It's somebody who's in war. Somebody where a battle is coming, and how many are like, oh, great, I didn't wanna hear that. I did not want another battle. Well, the point is this, you're gonna be attacked as a Christian if you're gonna walk in the will of God, if you're gonna pursue Christ in your life, right?

If you're looking for crowns one day he says, you wanna reign with me? You're gonna suffer with me. That there's gonna be just different waves of different heights. The rest of your life crashing on your shore. That's the Christian life. It's not if it's just when and to what degree.

Second Timothy three 12. Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. If you desire to live for Christ, you desire to take a stay in April. If you desire to take a stay in church, if you really decide to go for it, live for Christ, sell out, be radical church, all who desire to be, that will be persecuted.

That's why the problem is we're so smart. We know that if I just pull back and hide a little bit, fly under the radar, I can live a stress-free, you know, hurt, pain-free life. And most Christians do. But you need to know to do so is to dishonor God. He wants your entire life. He wants all of you, just doesn't want his pieces of you.

He wants your life. It's gonna cost you something, but you get to in the middle of that trust God and watch him come through and deliver and provide in ways that. We'll just make you go, oh my goodness, God is for real. Yes, he is. But it's just a lot easier sometimes because of fear. We get scared, we pull back and just, you know, cruise control, fly low, there will be opposition to Christian life.

Amen. And what he's saying is there's some good news here though that only faith is gonna allow us to experience and trust and really know and get used to. But what is it? Well, that he's a shield that yes, it's gonna be hard but I'm going before you. A shield doesn't go here when it's coming.

The shield goes here that I'm before you. I'm with you. You're not going alone. I go before you and I go with you. God says I'm a shield to you, . Your job is, you just need to stay behind it and real close to it. Isn't that something? The imagery I think is not to be missed. You, God is our shield. And so ultimately the question is, let's get real for just a moment.

How close are you sticking to your shield? If God's a shield, how close are you sticking to the Lord? The time you spend reading God's word, praying before God. Serving, giving, loving.

It's not quantitative, it's qualitative. What? What is, how close are you walking with God? Is it daily? Is it hourly? Is it you're walking in stride with him to where you, that shields right here. It's not way out there.

Are you making sure the shield goes first and that it's right in front of you? And he says, if you do so, I'll be with you. Look here's what we have to get over in our minds. It's not the absence of trouble in our life, suffering in our life, hardship in our life. That's the answer. Okay? It's the presence of God in our life.

That's the answer. It's the presence of God in our life that actually makes you emotionally, spiritually, physically, psychologically, healthy.

Many times we, we believe the things of the world and says, if I could just get rid of all my fears, all my anxieties, all my problems that are giving me fears and anxieties, if I could just be in control, and if everyone and everything went just the way I want it, then I'd be okay, . Well, good luck with that cuz not only is that never gonna happen wouldn't be the absence of your troubles that's gonna save you.

Did you know that? Good. It's the presence of God that makes you feel healthy. Faith does not say God's gonna get me around something. Faith says, God's going to go before me through it. Did you know that? Tuck in behind me. Let's go. But we're going right there. I'm gonna send you into the storm and you're gonna come out the other side, but you're gonna have to trust me and really depend on this shield and your faith grows as you do.

So,

let me just encourage you this idea of faith, right? Fight, flight, freeze. This idea of faith can only be done by God's children. Did you know that? It's a gift he gives to faith it. But Lord, there's four kings coming after me. I'm your shield. Lord, the K tonight are crazy. If they get ahold of me, they're gonna cut out my tongue.

They're gonna kill me. I'm your shield. But they're so violent. Do you have any idea what I'm up against? I'm your shield. There's thousands of them. I'm outnumbered. I got 318. That's it. I'm your shield. But I'm so nervous. I'm your shield. I don't know how you're gonna do it. That's okay. I'm your shield.

Trust me. That's good. I can take care of you. This is where it gets real. This is where Christianity, the rubber meets the road. It's not some pie in the sky exercise. And that's the problem with so many churches that they just kinda make Christians live as it, you know, these fluffy lives that aren't real and they don't do anything.

They don't go anywhere. They don't really live for Christ, that someone else's job. . But if we're really gonna make disciples, if we're really going to share our faith, if we're really gonna help people grow and engage in their lives, well that's gonna be hard. And we have to trust God and he's gonna have to show up.

And that's the beauty of it. You get to watch God move and you get to see God show up in your life and you get to walk with him and see that he is real and that he's your shield. I'll tell you a great story there. There's man came across these about a month ago, but I just want you to hear 'em.

Robert Bruce, right? The Scottish Emancipator in the late 12 hundreds, right? Tied in there with William Wallace Braveheart, right? He's being chased. Enemies are on his heel, and he runs into a cave and he's just waiting in the back of the dark cave for those who are chasing him to find him and kill him.

And this old guy stops and he prays and he says, God, take care of me.

And in that moment, he said at the front of the cave, in the light of the cave, a spider dropped down and began to weave his web and he began to shoot Webbs right and left. And he slowly watched in the sunlight and the glistening of the web, a spider spun right in front of him, a web in front of the cave.

And he thought to himself, I prayed for a wall and I got a web . And he waited there with the spider's web between him and death itself. And along came the soldiers who were looking for him, they saw the web assumed. There's no way anyone could have gone in there cuz the spider wouldn't have, you know, the web wouldn't be there.

It was covering the entrance and they looked, they saw the web and they went on their way. And he pinned the words where God is a spider's web. It is like a wall. Another one, I don't know if you'd ever believe it, if it weren't documented, is you ever heard of Dwy l Moody great 1800 evangelists, moody Institute up in Chicago.

He had a singer that was kinda his right hand man, a worship leader named Ira Sanky. And it was kind of the cliff barrows to the Billy Graham. If you know Cliff Barrows and his kinda right hand guys a worship leader. One time he's on a Steamboat Ira was, and they asked this famous singer to sing.

And so he stood and he sang his favorite song, savior, like a Shepherd lead us. And there was a fellow there that came up afterwards and he said, Mr. Sankey, did you fight in the Great War, the Civil War? . He said, yes, I did. He said, did you fight for the north? He said, yes, I did. He said you and I almost met one night, believe it or not.

He said, tell me about it. He goes, well, I fought for the south. And he said you were at a certain place and he named the place. And he said, yes, I was. And he goes and you're a century in the military, right? And he said yes, absolutely. It's what I was. He says, well, one night I'm on reconnaissance for the south.

And he said, I came up upon your fort where you were holding. And I stood in the darkness of the forest with nothing but moonlight. And he said, I stood in those shadows, and I stood in the full blare of the moonlight. And he said, Mr. Sankey I saw you and I was watching you, and my job was to kill you.

And I said to myself, this night, this Yankee will die. And I put my cross hairs on you and I put my finger on the trigger and he said, right then and there, you lifted your voice and you sang the song. You just sang right now Savior, like a shepherd lead. He said, music had always had a strange power over me.

And so I just stopped and I thought, well, I'll let this Yankee finish his song first and then I'll kill him. And I waited until the song was over.

The guidance and the protection of Jesus Christ said, he goes, and I remember my mother and the song she used to sing to us in stories she told of Christ. And he said, when you finished my arm, hung limp at my side, unable to pull the trigger. Spiders songs, men and women, God is your shield. He can take care of you.

So many times we never trust him enough, even to put ourselves in a position where we'd need him to protect us. You know that we play it safe. So often we never even get close and he's saying, I want you to trust me. I want you it's okay. I'll take care of you. What's the worst thing can happen? What?

You die. Why is that so bad? Then you get to home. Be with him. What? What if they persecute you? Wonderful. Blessed are those who are persecuted. What if they leave you alone? Praise God. I'll just keep on sharing the gospel. How do you lose there? I know it's hard. I know death is scary and I know persecution sounds awful.

However, the reward is much greater.

Let me ask you a question I'd like for you to answer. In your souls, you say you know who Jesus Christ is. You know God's love and you know his, and you experience his love. You know God's grace and you have experienced his grace. You know what it is to sin and confess it to him and know his mercy and forgiveness because you've experienced it.

But have you ever felt, and since God's protection in your life, if not, it could be this very fact that you have no enemies.

You only need a shield when you need protection. You only need protection where you have left. No doubt as to what colors you fly in your life and whose team you are on. All of us should know God as our shield. The late great professor at Howard said it this way. He said, the greatest problem with Christianity is not humanism.

It's not evolution, it's not feminist. He said, it is Christians trying to sneak into heaven. Incognito God is our shield. Amen. He's not just our shield, he's also our reward. After these things when Lord came to and a vision, fear not Abraham, remind your shield, your reward shall be great. I'm not just your shield, I'm your reward.

Now, why would God say your reward shall be great? I'm your reward. Why would he say that to Abraham? Remember, he just gave up a lifetime of wealth, a king's ransom in the war. And he said, I won't take a dime from you, king of Sodom. And God says, look, lemme tell you something. You don't need a king's ransom.

You have something greater. You have me, oh, now you wanna test the waters here on what you really believe about faith in God. If given the choice where you could be infinitely wealthy or have Christ for an eternity, what would you choose? If you're even hesitating on that question, you know where your heart is.

You imagine Abram coming home and talking to Sarah the night that he just won that victory. Well, how'd it go dear? Oh, we did great. We wiped out those four kings defeated them. Good. Oh, that's awesome. So where's the money? . Where's the spoils of war here? Well, honey, I gave it away. What? To who? I let the king of Sodom have it.

I didn't want to dime from that guy. Huh? How much you gave away? 90%. So we still have 10? Nope. Where'd to go? Gave that away too. To who? The king and priests of Salem Mo Keek. You imagine that conversation. So now wait. You risked your entire life. My husband for that. Sorry, nephew of yours lot. And you got nothing to show for it.

Why the glory of God, honey. Now, I don't know if that's how the conversation went, but you can wonder, can't you? He fights this great battle, comes home. He's got nothing in his pocket to show for it. He's none the better worldly speaking. And don't, you know, in that moment he's hearing footsteps and God says to him, Hey, you can't outgive me, Abraham.

Don't you worry about it? Sodom cannot bless your life like I can. Don't you fall for the things of the world and start finding your hope and your faith in those things. You put that faith in me. And in a few verses, he's gonna take Abraham outside. We'll do this next week and he'll say, look up at the sky.

Lift your eyes. And he shows them the stars. And he says, that's how many are gonna be in your nation one day. And God's gonna give him an eternal blessing because from that nation would come, our savior, our redeemer, our Lord Jesus Christ. And I just wanna make this one point very clear less, you know, we fall into the nuance of this world and the prosperity, the false, her radical teaching of the prosperity gospel, that when God says, I'll be your reward, he's not talking about money.

He didn't say, now look over there. There's a lot more cash that way. You're good. That wasn't what he was talking about. And sometimes I think that's what we think, and that's definitely what's preached by a lot of preachers. It's not a quantitative thing, it's a qualitative thing. God's reward is different in every sense because his reward is he himself.

I'm your reward in me. You'll find joy, and peace and happiness, and love and purpose and life. I'm an infinite divine reward. I am your treasure in heaven. Don't. When you hear God is our reward, hear you know, chaing.

Don't think of God like some kind of businessman. It's interesting, but why is it that so many Christians in our day and age in our world are just kind of puts and along I, I think honestly, it gets into what I've heard. I think Chip Ingram, I've heard a number of other great preachers and teachers out there say the number one item on our day is financial security.

It's what drives America. Economics.

Would you cash in your current currency, your portfolio right now for the currency of another nation? You say, oh no, because our country doesn't honor that currency. The currency of a foreign. , it would be ignorant to give up what you have for the face of another king. Unless you knew categorically without question that someday that king was gonna come and take over and rule this kingdom and only his face would be honored on that coin, then you would have no longer, you know, worry about giving it over.

You'd gladly give it over joyfully, cheerfully. You'd be the most astute, wise business man or woman alive. But I think that's exactly why Christians are so tentative, because we think that this world's gonna continue forever and we are storing up treasures for ourself here on earth and not in heaven. We are living for the here and now.

We have fallen no different than the rest of the world into putting treasures on this world rather than treasures and heaven. And we've sold out God in the process. And yet someday, king Jesus is going to take over some day, soon at his second coming at the second advent. And only thing he, he shall not honor.

The only thing he's gonna honor, the only thing that's even gonna be precious to him is things of him. That's the difference between a wise Christian and a fool. Are you gonna make treasures for yourself here on Earth? Are you gonna store up treasure in heaven that moth cannot eat, thief cannot steal, Russ cannot destroy.

What currency are you investing in right now in your life? It's a great question to ask. It's at the very heart of who we are today. What's your currency heading into Christmas? My goodness. Big time. Spending what currency you're invested in.

You need to know this. Abram had to ask hard questions, and I'll ask the same to you. What grips your heart? What fear really has you today? Because Jesus says, perfect love casts out all fears. Perfect. Love His love. He himself removes those fears and replaces fears with faith. Are you behind the shield?

Are you putting on, as Paul says, the full arm of Christ Jesus, ready to take on any fiery darts that come your way? Cuz you know you're in a battle, you're not pretending like you're not, and you're going head on in trusting his shield will hold.

And do you see him as your reward? Do you see him as your great treasure? Are you treasuring as Mary, holding Jesus in her arms? Treasuring these thoughts in her heart. Do you treasure Christ? Is he your true reward greater than any earthly possession that man can give?

Not too shabby for one verse. , a lot there to serve up and feed us. Father, we thank you for this time in your word. We thank you for the hope of the salvation you provide in your son Christ Jesus. Lord, I pray that all of us really contemplate it. Is that is keeping us from you. What fear is truly gripping our heart and has us wrapped in life that you're saying, Hey, trust me with that.

When you have fear and something feels big, run to faith. They'll run to these others

when Father, maybe it's today that we're realizing that we don't even have our shield up. We got Bibles sitting in the corner of our house we couldn't even find on the way to church today because we hadn't sat with them. We hadn't been breaking 'em open, talking to you, sitting with you, hearing from you, letting the living words speak.

The word into our hearts and our lives, and let deep call to deep and find this shield, and this strength and this hope that only comes from you. No wonder we're afraid we've got no armor. We're under attack without anyone protecting us. Well Lord, maybe it's today that we've forgotten what a great reward you truly are and that you see us as your greatest treasure so that we would see you as our ultimate treasure.

Father, will you have your way in our hearts now changes as we head outta here. Be with us, accompany us. Know that you're with us always and that we should go out of here fearing not for you're with us, for it's in Christ name we pray, and by your Spirit, we ask. Amen.