GOOD FEAR: THE X-FACTOR

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.

II. The Second Deception of Good – “You Are Not Driving”

• You were created a Chooser but something else is at the wheel.

Deuteronomy 30:19 – I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore, choose life, that both you and your descendants may live.

− How God Operates: He sets the options in front of you and then tells you to choose.

− How Fear Operates: Fear never sets two things in front of you and waits. It does not hand you a question, it hands you a VERDICT, and you follow it without question.

• We did not pick this road; we were born on it.

Matthew 7:14 – Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it.

2 Corinthians 11:14 – And no wonder! For Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light.

• Where the Road Ends

Matthew 16:25-26 – 25For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it. 26For what profit is it to a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?

• Good Fear creates the X-FACTOR.

Matthew 25:24-25 – 24“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. 25And “I WAS AFRAID” and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, “THERE YOU HAVE WHAT IS YOURS.”

• The Good Fear X-Factor = “1X”

James 4:17 – Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.

• Good Fear in Action

John 12:42-43 – 42Nevertheless even among the rulers many believed in Him, but because of the Pharisees they did not confess Him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue; 43for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God.

• God Fear Overcoming Good Fear

John 19:38-39 – 38After this, Joseph of Arimathea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly, for fear of the Jews, asked Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus; and Pilate gave him permission. So he came and took the body of Jesus. 39And Nicodemus, who at first came to Jesus by night, also came, bringing a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about a hundred pounds.

III. The Needed Decision – Retake the Wheel

• The Only Thing standing between you and the multiplier is RISK.

Matthew 25:27 – So you ought to have deposited my money with the bankers, and at my coming I would have received back my own with interest.

• THE BANK – Not a venture, not a gamble, not a business he had to build with his hands. The bank is the LOWEST-RISK INSTRUMENT that exists.

• FEAR is a THING and a THING cannot drive.

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

• How to Conquer Fear – Three Questions: 1) Is It True? 2) Is It Now? 3) Is It Mine?

2 Corinthians 10:5 – Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

1. IS IT TRUE? – Not what it feels like; what is actually there.

2. IS IT NOW? – Is the danger present or are you borrowing it from a year you have not reached and may never reach?

3. IS IT MINE? Is this yours to carry, or did you pick it up off somebody else or did someone else drop it off on you?

Matthew 13:8 – But others fell on good ground and yielded a crop: some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty.

THE ASK: This week, make one choice your fear would have normally made for you.