Galatians 6:7 – Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

John 10:10 – The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

I. The First Deception of Good – “The Road Seems Right”

Proverbs 22:3 – A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, But the simple pass on and are punished.

GOOD FEAR…1) protects you, 2) keeps you safe, and 3) buys you a longer life most of the time.

• If you stay on it long enough, it builds a “Good Man.”

Mark 10:17-22 – 17Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” 20And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” 21Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 22But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

• The Deception – That Good Feels Like Enough

Proverbs 14:12 – There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

− The word is right – not evil, filthy, or wicked – RIGHT.

‍ ‍The Obvious Hidden Truth: This world does not run on truth. It runs on deception!

Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

Proverbs 9:10 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

THE CHAIN: Dominion (Your choice) → God (Truth as Source) → God Fear (The Multiplier) → His Word → Knowledge → Understanding → Wisdom → Identity → Authority → Decision → Outcome → Reality → Readjustment → Corrective Decision → Life

I. Truth Is the Only Thing That Actually Governs Human Behavior

John 18:37-38 – 37Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” 38Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.”

• You follow the voice of whatever you are OF.

• "What is truth?" is not a philosophical question for the unbeliever.

II. God Is Not Just Truthful – He is Truth Itself

John 17:17 – Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

• Jesus is not asking the Father to use truth – He is declaring that the Word IS truth.

• Truth is not a concept – It is a person.

John 1:1 – In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

Truth has a text.

Matthew 10:28 – “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Matthew 7:21-23 – 21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

Proverbs 9:10 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

I. God Fear Requires the One True God

John 17:3 – “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

• Nobody is just afraid, and nobody just believes.

James 2:19 – You believe that there is ONE GOD. You do well. Demons also believe— and tremble!

• Your FEAR exposes the counterfeit nature of your God.

Genesis 3:9-10 – Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was AFRAID because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Hebrews 2:14-15 – Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through FEAR of death were ALL THEIR LIFETIME subject to BONDAGE.

(2 x 5 = 10)

(4 x 5 = 20)

WHATEVER YOU FEAR GOVERNS YOU.

1) GOD FEAR

2) GOOD FEAR

3) GROUNDLESS FEAR

I. Fear is a THRONE Issue; It Identifies Perceived Power

Proverbs 29:25 – The fear of man brings a snare, But whoever trusts in the LORD shall be safe.

• Fear is not emotion, it’s slavery.

1 Samuel 15:24 – Then Saul said to Samuel, “I have sinned, for I have transgressed the commandment of the LORD and your words, because I feared the people and obeyed their voice.”

• You fear what you believe has the ability to affect your future.

Ecclesiastes 3:11 – He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also, He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

Psalm 90:10, 12 – 10The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. 12So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

I. The Sobering Reality — Life Continues Without You

Genesis 8:21-22 – 21And the LORD smelled a soothing aroma. Then the LORD said in His heart, “I will never again curse the ground for man’s sake, although the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth; nor will I again destroy every living thing as I have done. 22WHILE THE EARTH REMAINS, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”

Ecclesiastes 1:4 – One generation passes away, and another generation comes; But the earth abides forever.

II. The Seed Principle — What Survives You Must Leave You

John 12:23-25 – 23But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Sonof Man should be glorified. 24Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. 25He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.

• The Cost of Preservation: A seed kept safe stays alone forever. It multiplies by dying, not by hiding.

• Two Different Questions: Self-preservation asks what you can keep. Eternal thinking asks what will still be producing after you're gone.

Mark 4:29 – “But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, BECAUSE THE HARVEST HAS COME.”

Leviticus 19:9-10 – 9“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God.”

I. The WINNOWING Process

Your First Instinct Says, “KEEP IT”; But God Says, “LET IT GO”.

Matthew 3:12 – “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

• Stop calling loss what God calls chaff.

What are you calling loss right now that God has already labeled chaff?

• Don't blame the wind when it’s God holding the fan.

Matthew 3:12a – His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor

Are you angry or struggling with the circumstances that God personally authorized?

• Stop exhausting yourself fighting for chaff.

What are you still fighinng for that God has already let go of?

Revelation 19:6-9 “Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, “Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.  Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure”—for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.”

Matthew 25:1-13

1 “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.‍ ‍2-3 Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish.  Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, 4 but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps.5 But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept.‍ ‍6 “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’7 Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. 8 And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ 9 But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ 10 And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. 11 “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ 12 But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’‍ ‍13“Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.

1. THE REALITY OF HIS COMING

Rev 1:7 Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

Mark 4:26-29— 26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Genesis 1:28—Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

I. Process #1: REAPING — Release from the Field

• The Sickle Announces That Your Season Has Changed

• The Sickle Separates You from the Place that Produced You

Genesis 12:1—Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.”

THE 1ST DECISION OF THE HARVEST: You must release what God has finished using in your growth.

John 15:1-2 – 1“I am the true vine, and My Father is the vinedresser. 2Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

John 15:8 – “By this My Father is GLORIFIED, that you bear MUCH FRUIT; so you will be My disciples.”

John 10:10 – “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it MORE ABUNDANTLY.”

John 15:2 – “Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear MORE FRUIT.”

Psalm 90:12 – So, teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

I. What You Refuse to CONFRONT You Choose to CARRY – Don’t Complain

• Most of what you must Confront was UNCHOSEN and RANDOM.

Ecclesiastes 9:11 – I returned and saw under the sun that— The race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favor to men of skill; but Tme and chance happen to them all.

1. PEOPLE God is trying to cut from your life

Mark 4:26-29 – 26And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

I. TIME — THE WAITING PROCESS

James 5:7 – “Therefore, be patient brethren, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, waiting patiently for it until it receives the early and latter rain.”

Genesis 8:22 – “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”

Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 – 1“To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven: 2a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck what is planted.”

• How to Wait: PATIENTLY

Jeremiah 17:7-8 – 7“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD, and whose hope is the LORD. 8For he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which spreads out its roots by the river, and will not fear when heat comes; but its leaf will be green,and will not be anxious in the year of drought, nor will cease from yielding fruit.

• Cutting the wait short can cost you the thing itself, not just time

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are

endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are

Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.

That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, DERIVING

THEIR JUST POWERS “FROM THE CONSENT OF THE GOVERNED.”

1. The loss of God as The Moral Center

2. Extremism, Polarization, and the Destruction of the Reasonable Center

3. The replacement of Personal Responsibility with Government Dependence

I. We failed to learn the lesson from the Garden — The Pattern is Established.

• Authority – Dominion: not muscle, power, or a throne — The Right to Decide.

Genesis 1:26 – Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, OVER ALL THE EARTH and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

1 Corinthians 14:12 – Even so you, since you are zealous for spiritual gifts, let it be for the edification of the church that you seek to excel.

Habakkuk 2:2 – Then the LORD answered me and said: “Write the vision And make it plain on tablets, That he may run who reads it.”

I. THE PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED — COMPREHENSION

1 Corinthians 14:13 – Therefore let him who speaks in a tongue pray that he may interpret.

1) The Message is Released, But Not Received.

1 Corinthians 14:5 – I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may RECEIVE edification.

2) The Message is Spoken, But Not Understood.

1 Corinthians 14:9 – So likewise you, unless you utter by the tongue words easy to understand, how will it be known what is spoken? For you will be speaking into the air.

3) The Message is Claimed, But Not Tested

Malachi 4:5-6– 5“Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. 6And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse.”

I. The Target – One Clear Bullseye to Aim At

• Fathers Are Fixers

− The Perceived Targets: Provision, protection, college, sports, behavior, grades are all good. But none of those are THE target. You can hit all of them and still lose your child.

− The Right Target — The Father’s Heart Turned

II. The Filter — One Question for Every Decision

The One Question: “Will this turn our hearts together, or pull them apart?”

III. The Four Non-Negotiables

Ephesians 6:4—And you, fathers, do not provoke your children to wrath, but bring them up in the training and admonition of the Lord.

I. God Measures Gifts by Outcome, Not Expression

• Outcome Is Prioritized

1 Corinthians 14:1 – Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, BUT ESPECIALLY that you may prophesy.

• Outcome Is Contrasted

1 Corinthians 14:2 – For he who speaks in a tongue does not speak to men but to God, for no one understands him; however, in the spirit he speaks mysteries.

1 Corinthians 14:3 – But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.

− The Outcome: Edification, Exhortation, and Comfort TO MEN

1 Corinthians 14:4 – He who speaks in a tongue edifies himself, but he who prophesies edifies the church.

− The Outcome: One Builds Himself, the Other Builds the Church

• The Desired Outcome – The Edified Church Body

1 Corinthians 14:5 – I wish you all spoke with tongues, but even more that you prophesied; for he who prophesies is greater than he who speaks with tongues, unless indeed he interprets, that the church may receive edification.

II. God Measures Gifts by the Understanding Not by the Instrument

• God Seeks Our Profit

Romans 8:9-11 – 9But you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His. 10And if Christ is in you, the body is dead because of sin, but the Spirit is life because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

1 Corinthians 12:1-7 – 1Now concerning spiritual gifts, brethren, I do not want you to be ignorant: 2You know that you were Gentiles, carried away to these dumb idols, however you were led. 3Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit. 4There are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. 5There are differences of ministries, but the same Lord. 6And there are diversities of activities, but it is the same God who works all in all. 7But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all:

I. The New Nature of The Body – Spirit Filled

Acts 1:4-5 – 4And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”

• The Occasion for the Gifting – Pentecost

Acts 2:1-2 – 1When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting.

• The Transformation of the People – The Holy Spirit

Acts 2:3-4 – 3Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.

I. The Gifts are Partial and Temporary.

1 Corinthians 13:8-9 – 8Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away. 9For we know in part and we prophesy in part.

• Love NEVER fails – does not fall apart, does not wither, is never used up.

• Prophecy and knowledge FAIL – eclipsed by something greater.

− Fail and Vanish Away (katargeo) – abolished, nullified, made of no effect. It is passive, meaning something outside them does it to them.

• Tongues stands alone (pausontai; future middle) – cease.

• Prophecy and knowledge end when the perfect comes — a fixed point; tongues end by need, not by a date.

− Prophecy and knowledge are Revelation Gifts: when full sight comes, they are eclipsed.

− Tongues is a Communication Gift: the need for a communication gift is Situational.

II. The Partial Ends When the Perfect Comes.

1 Corinthians 13:10-12 – 10But when that which is perfect has come, then that which is in part will be done away. 11When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things. 12For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.

• That which is Perfect

− The Completed Bible

− Our Completed Spiritual Maturity

− The Return of Christ Himself

III. The Last Man Standing.

I. AGAPE — A Different Kind of Love

1 Corinthians 13:4-7 – 4 Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; 5does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; 6does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; 7bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

● Agape Suffers Long — It stays when every natural impulse is screaming to leave.

● Agape Is Kind — It gives good when the flesh is demanding revenge.

● Agape Does Not Envy — It can celebrate someone else without needing to diminish them.

● Agape Does Not Parade Itself — It does not need an audience in order to feel valuable.

● Agape Is Not Puffed Up — It is secure enough to stay low.

John 13:34-35 – 34A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another. 35By this all will know that you are My disciples, If You Have Love for One Another.”

I. The Wrong Way – Ranking and Comparison

Romans 12:3-4 – 3For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. 4For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function…

1 Corinthians 12:31-13:3 – 31But earnestly desire the best gifts. And yet I show you A MORE EXCELLENT WAY. 13:1Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. 2And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but

have not love, I am nothing. 3And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing.

• The Verdict on Tongues — White Noise: “I Say Nothing.”

1 Corinthians 13:1 – Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I HAVE BECOME sounding brass or a clanging cymbal.

• The Verdict on Prophecy, Knowledge, and Faith — Identity Loss: “I Am Nothing.”

1 Corinthians 13:2 – And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I AM NOTHING.

• The Verdict on Self-Sacrifice — I Gain Nothing: “I Profit Nothing.”

1 Corinthians 13:3 – And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, IT PROFITS ME NOTHING.

I. Motherhood Is More than Birth — It’s a Life Rhythm

• Raising Children requires a Daily Rhythm.

Deuteronomy 6:7 – You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up.

• Raising Children requires a Devoted Parent.

Deuteronomy 6:6 – And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart.

II. Motherhood Takes More than You – It Takes a Family

• The greatest protégé Paul ever had was discipled at a kitchen table.