Good morning. Let's all stand and give thanks for being here today. I want to tell you, I have been truly blessed being here in the last 24 hours. And this morning's service has been so wonderful to see how a church can experience revival for four years and still remain a family church. Every minute of this morning has totally blessed my life. Every minute of the baby dedication. And I want to thank you as a congregation for allowing the Spirit of God to do what He wants to do in this house and touch the world.

I travel every week. I do not pastor a church. I've been on every continent except Antarctica. And this revival has touched the world. It's wonderful to see how you've been unselfish and truly had the heart of God. To see people that are hurting come to Jesus. And I'm just believing that this morning the Spirit of God has something very special for you as a church.

I really have to say, the whole time I've been here, my heart has really gone out to this local church. And I came back from the service last night. I couldn't stop praying because I really believe God wants to touch you as a church this morning. Amen. As a people, as families, as individuals. Amen.

Can we believe for that? I know a lot of you don't know me. Let me just say this. I love God with all of my heart. And if you love God, we're family. So I'm not a guest. So can we get rid of that right now? Amen. Amen. Amen.

Let's pray. Father, in the name of Jesus. Lord, I thank you for your presence in this house. And Lord, I'm asking that today that you would speak to us, not yesterday's, not tomorrow's, but what you're saying to us right now. Spirit of the living God, I'm asking that you would literally invade this sanctuary today. Build a wall of fire around this place today.

Father, I am asking that you would give every word straight from your lips through your servant today. I publicly acknowledge my utter dependence upon the Holy Spirit. I can say and do nothing without from you this morning, Holy Spirit. Father, I am asking for not only your word, but your heart to deliver it today in Jesus' name. Give us ears to hear. Give us eyes to see. Give us a heart to perceive and understand what the Spirit of God is saying and doing right now in this very hour with the church.

So Lord, we give you the praise. We give you the glory. We give you the honor for this. In Jesus' mighty name. And all the people of God said. All the people of God said. Amen. You can be seated. Hallelujah.

This is my first time being here. Although I've been affected many times, one of the first times I really came in contact with the Brownsville Revival was actually a conference I was doing. It was the Charisma Conference. And Pastor Kilpatrick's son, John Jr., and his wife Elizabeth and Allison came and spoke. And they weren't even scheduled to speak. They would just get up and testify for a couple minutes. Well, that couple minutes ended up being about an hour and a half of pure Holy Ghost power.

And I sat there and wept and wept and wept. And I looked at my wife and I said, "I have seen Joel chapter 2." I have seen sons and daughters prophesy. Amen. This prophecy, prophecy is not standing up people and giving them nice little pretty words. It is to speak as the oracles of God. It is to bring forth his word under divine unction and inspiration.

John the Baptist prophesied. All he did was prophesy, but he never said one thus saith the Lord with his prophecies. He didn't even have any personal prophecies. As a church, I believe this church has really grown up and understood what true prophecy is. Amen? Amen? Amen.

And so I've just really been blessed by meeting Steve and John Kilpatrick. And then I met Brenda about a year ago in Amsterdam. I was there doing a conference and she was there, one of the speakers. And we met. And the thing that so stood out about Brenda Kilpatrick is her genuineness and her humility.

And I thought if this... This woman has lived through one of the most powerful revivals in North America's history and stayed this sweet and this genuine. I cannot wait to meet these people and be there. And so she looked at me and she said, "You've got to come to Brownsville." I said, well, invite me, I'll come.

So when the letter from Pastor Kilpatrick came, I didn't have to really pray about it real long. I really believed it was an appointment of God. And now that I'm here, I know it is. Now, I have to say this. I have so much in my heart. I have to release. If I don't release it, I'm going to explode. We've got to get into the word of God. Amen.

I'm not real good with formal introductions when you feel like you're about to blow up inside. Amen. So let's just do that. All right. So go to 2 Corinthians chapter 3 and let's get into it. Amen. Hallelujah.

Now, I was raised Catholic and got saved. I'm not comfortable in funeral home atmospheres. And I believe I'm going to be very much at home here. Amen. Amen. Hallelujah.

You know, I want to do something because I feel like God's going to be doing something very, very powerful this morning afterwards and with the communion that I think will be very appropriate. I want to talk about a couple of tapes and books and videos very quickly. Scott, would you come here real quick? I want to say this, that I realize I only have one service with you. This is an opportunity for me to continue to minister to you.

Before I go to every church, I always pray and I say, Lord, what are you saying to this church? What is the word that you want to bring? When I prayed about this revival, I felt three items. First of all, the book, The Fear of the Lord. I'm going to be ministering on this morning, discovering the key to intimately knowing God.

One woman in Grand Rapids, Michigan came up to me, and she picked up this book about a year ago. And she had been bound to drugs, alcohol, and cigarettes for 24 years of her life. Say amen. Hallelujah.

2 Corinthians, I want to read a few verses here. Verse 7. But if the ministry of death, written and engraven on stones, was glorious. Everybody say glorious. So that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance. His physical countenance.

Which glory was passing away. How will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? Now that's a powerful statement. Moses came down from the mountain after spending 40 days and 40 nights with God and his face lit so brightly that they had to cover him up. And Paul comes along and says what we're about to see in the new covenant is going to be more glorious.

Why is that? It's one thing to reflect what you've been in the presence of. It's another thing to admit it. Moses reflected what he had been in the presence of that the New Testament says we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Amen. Hallelujah.

Verse 12. Therefore, since we have such hope, hope is something in the future. What Paul is writing about here, he sought prophetically, but he didn't walk in it. I believe this last generation is going to walk in it. Can you say amen? We use great boldness of speech, unlike Moses, to put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away.

Now, this is where I'm getting to this morning. Verse 14. But, everybody say they but. Everybody say but. But their minds were blinded. That is one of the most tragic statements in the whole Bible. The children of Israel's minds were blinded to the glory of God. The thing they so desperately needed, they were blinded to.

Now why does Paul bring this up in the New Covenant? The reason being is that there is a reason that their minds were blinded. And if we understand what blinded their minds to the glory of God in the Old Covenant, we'll understand it in the New. We will understand what will keep people from seeing the glory of God in these last days.

So let's understand what blinded the children of Israel's minds. In order to do that, we've got to go back to Exodus, the 19th chapter. So go back there with me, please. And I've got to lay, take a few minutes and lay a foundation here this morning. I really felt in my heart that God said, that God put in my heart this morning that I'm going to teach you.

So that's exactly what we're going to do. I love preaching, but we need teaching too. Listen to me, church. Preaching is wonderful. It blasts us into new realms. But teaching establishes us. What we've been blasted into. Do you understand what I'm saying? If all you have is preaching, you'll blow up. If all you have is teaching, you'll dry up.

Don't ever forget we need both. Good place to say amen. Amen. Don't ever get an unhealthy soul to sedition for just one facet of ministry. It's wrong. God gave the fivefold, not the onefold. It takes the entire fivefold to bring us to maturity.

That is why I cannot overemphasize you as a church attending those Wednesday night Bible schools. It is so important for you to attend them. Because you want to be established in what God has brought you in as a church. God has called this church to so much more. You cannot peak and orbit where you're at.

I kept hearing the Spirit of God saying to the church, I said, time to keep swimming out deeper. I hope this morning we'll provoke you to it. Amen? Are you here? Alright, I just want to make sure. Alright, now, in Exodus 19, let me give you a little history of what's happening here.

In Exodus, the beginning of the chapter, we have a man named Moses who's on the backside of the desert for 40 years. And God reveals himself to Moses in the bush that burned with fire on top of Horeb or Mount Sinai, correct? God said to Moses, I've come to deliver my people and you're the man, you're the deliverer.

Moses comes down, commands Pharaoh to let God's people go, and by mighty, mighty signs and wonders, God delivers his people out of Egypt. Now, let me ask you something, church, this is not a trick question. Israel coming out of Egypt is a type of what in the New Testament? Being saved, right?

Egypt is a type of the world. Israel coming out of Egypt is a type of being born again. Amen? Come on, talk to me.

Moses brings them out of Egypt. And when he brings them out of Egypt, where's his destination? Where's his first destination? The promised land? No. Mount Sinai. Why do you want to bring the people out of Egypt and bring them into the promised land before they've had the opportunity to meet the promiser?

Moses brings them out of Egypt. That's what he said to Pharaoh. Let my people go that they might worship me in the wilderness. He didn't say let my people go so they can have a nice new land. You bring them out of Egypt to Sinai because Moses wanted them to see and behold God as God had revealed himself to Moses.

So Moses brings the children of Israel to the foot of the mountain. Look what happens here in verse 3. And Moses went up to God and the Lord called to him from the mountains saying, Thus you shall say to the house of Jacob and tell the children of Israel.

Now this message notices to every single one of them, not just the sons of Aaron or to the Levites. God says to them, You have seen what I did to the Egyptians and how I bore you on eagles wings and brought you to myself. Everybody say brought you to myself. You want to know the whole reason you were saved? Because God saved you to bring you to himself.

That's your whole reason for being created. If you want to see what God's plan is for your life, let me tell you something. You're not an accident. I don't care what they said to you. You were not born of the will of flesh and blood. You were born of the will of God.

And God drew you to himself. Why did God create man? So that man could walk with God in fellowship. Adam was not put in the garden to have a worldwide deliverance ministry or healing ministry.

Adam was put in the garden to walk with God. Out of that relationship will come the worldwide healing ministry or deliverance ministry. Amen.

Now, God says in verse 5, Now therefore, if you will indeed obey my voice and keep my covenant, then you should be a special treasure to me above all people, for all the earth is mine.

And you shall be to me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. These are the words that you shall speak to the children of Israel. So God is obviously inviting them to come and minister to him. Do you see that? He says to the whole nation, you'll be a kingdom of priests. A priest is one who ministers to God.

Amen? So look what God says here in verse 10. Then the Lord said to Moses, go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow. Everybody say today and tomorrow. How many days is that? Two days. Keep that in mind. Go to the people and consecrate them today and tomorrow and let them wash their clothes.

Notice he said, let them wash their clothes. And let them be ready for the third day. For on the third day the Lord will come down upon Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people. Now listen to me. This is prophetic. A day with the Lord is a thousand years according to 2 Peter chapter 3 verse 8.

In other words, one of God's days is a thousand of our years. How many years has it been since Jesus has been raised from the dead? Almost 2,000 years. We're at the very end of the second day.

Many say he was raised from the dead around 28, 29 AD. It puts us at the very end of the second day. God says the church's responsibility for the last 2,000 years has been to consecrate ourselves in the preparation for his coming glory. What does he mean by consecrate? That's a street term. That's not a street term, I should say.

Consecrate simply means just set yourself apart. God is saying to them, I delivered you out of Egypt, now get Egypt out of you. And notice he says, let them wash their clothes. Paul writes about this in Corinthians as well when he says to the church, God has promised to dwell in his glory among us and in us.

Therefore, having this promise, let us cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and filthiness of the spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God. Now, let me say this. It is our responsibility to cleanse the garment of our flesh and the garment of our spirit.

The garment of the flesh would be the outward sins, lust, drinking, etc. The spirit would be the inward hidden ones, pride, arrogance, unforgiveness, bitterness, etc. God says it's our responsibility to cleanse ourselves and to wash our garments in the preparation of His coming glory. Because He says at the beginning of the third day, He says, I'm coming in the sight of all the people.

Are you seeing this? Now watch what happens in verse 16. Then it came to pass on the third day in the morning. The Jewish day begins at six o'clock in the morning, not twelve midnight. This is the beginning of the third thousandth year, prophetically speaking.

That there were thunderings and lightnings and a thick cloud on the mountain. And the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled. Remember, he's coming back with the blow of the trumpet. Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet with God.

And they stood at the foot of the mountain. Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke. Because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace and the whole mountain quite greatly.

Now folks look up at me. Do you realize that God came down on this mountain in his glory? I am talking this morning. Now I want to take time before I can talk to you about the fear of the Lord. I have got to develop something here. And that is his greatness.

It's impossible to do it, but I'm going to try a feeble attempt this morning to do it. The one who came down on this mountain is the one who literally put the stars in the universe with his fingers. You go out there and you look at that sun every day. Just remember, God put it there with his fingers.

He's the one the Bible says weighed all the water in the earth with the palm of his hands. He's the one that measured the mountains and the scales. Isaiah says that he measured the universe from one end to the other with the span of his hand. From his thumb to his pinky. He measured it.

Do you realize how big that universe is? Most people don't have any idea. You know that's why the Bible says the heavens declare his glory. The universe declares it. Let me declare it just for a moment. Let me help you understand just how big the universe is.

We live in what's called the galaxy. It's called the Milky Way galaxy, right? What is the Milky Way galaxy? It's just this tiny cluster of stars, about a billion stars, in the midst of a massive universe with billions of other galaxies. You understand what I'm saying?

Now, we live in this tiny galaxy called the Milky Way galaxy with billions of stars. Our sun's one of the billion stars. The closest star to the earth other than our sun is a star that's about 4.3 light years away. You say, well, what's that? That's Chinese.

A light year is how far light travels in one year. Well, how fast does light travel? Light travels at a speed of 186,282 miles per second, not per hour. That's roughly 670 million miles per hour.

You got it? Now let me help you understand how fast that is. When I fly to Asia and go to the other side of the plane, it takes me about 23 hours in a jet plane to get there. If I was to take off tonight and to fly to the sun, Which is only 93 million miles away from the earth.

If I took off tonight in a jet airplane, it would take me 21 years to get there, non-stop flight. It takes light 8 minutes and 20 seconds. Now

Here is the cleaned-up version of the sermon transcription:

The Milky Way. Now, most of the stars you look at outside at night in our little galaxy are between 100 and 1,000 light years away. There are some that are 4,000 light years away that you can see with your naked eye. Do you know what that means? When you walk outside and you look at the light of that star tonight, you are actually looking at the light that left that star about the time Abraham married Sarah and has been traveling 670 million miles and is now just getting here tonight.

Now, have I blown your mind? That's exactly what the Bible means when it says the heavens declare his glory. You see, you have to understand this is the one who came down on this mountain in his glory. Everyone says, "in his glory." Now, can I say this to you this morning? Most of the church doesn't even have a clue to what the glory of God is. I hear people saying this. Man, the glory fell in the meeting that night. Oh yeah? I don't think he'd be here to tell us about it if he did.

Now, let me tell you first of all what the glory of God is not. It's not a cloud or a mist. Somebody says, well, how come when you read in the Bible about the glory of God coming here, we see something about a cloud? The reason is because God's countenance is so brilliant. He is so bright that if he didn't hide himself behind a very dark cloud, all flesh around him would be completely annihilated.

So he had to hide himself in a very dark cloud. See, put your markers there and go with me to 1 Timothy. Let me show you something real quick. 1 Timothy chapter 6. I've got to lay this foundation. Are you there? Look what Paul says about Jesus. In 1 Timothy chapter 6, verse 15. Which he will manifest in his own time. He who is blessed and only potentate. The king of kings and lord of lords.

Now look at verse 16. Who alone has immortality. Dwelling in unapproachable light whom no man has seen or can see. To whom be glory, to be honor, and everlasting power. Amen. Do you see what Paul says about Jesus? He dwells in unapproachable light whom no man has seen or can see.

Now, how could Paul write this? The reason is if he experienced just a touch of it when he got saved. Do you remember on the road to Damascus? When he got saved? He saw a light from heaven. As a matter of fact, Paul was giving his testimony to a king named Agrippa. Go to Acts 26 real quick.

And let me show you what he said to King Agrippa. Are you there? Acts 26. Look at the 13th verse. Now he's speaking to this king, giving his testimony when he got saved. And he says, "At midday, O king." Now stop and look up at me for a minute. Everybody say, "midday." Midday.

Has anyone in here ever been to Israel? Can you put up your hand if you've been there? Will you tell me if I'm wrong? When I went to Israel, now I live in Orlando, Florida, and they call this state the Sunshine State. When I went to the Middle East, I found out we are not the Sunshine State. It is unbelievably bright.

You're right near the equator. It is desert climate. Therefore, the light rays are not refracted by the atmosphere, the moisture in the atmosphere. And it's desert, so everything's reflecting everywhere. And it's not so bad about 8 o'clock, 9 o'clock in the morning, but when it gets up 11, 12, 1 o'clock, 2 o'clock in the afternoon, you have to wear sunglasses or else your eyes are like slits.

It is so bright, the sun. That Middle Eastern midday sun. Look what Paul says happened at midday in the Middle East. Verse 13. "At midday, O King, along the road, I saw a light from heaven brighter than the sun." Now would you look up at me? Paul said that when Jesus, now he didn't even see his face. He just saw the light that comes from his face because he said, "who are you?" He said just the light that just came from his face without even seeing his face.

He said that light was so bright, it was brighter than the Middle Eastern sun. Now do you understand why Isaiah and Joel say that when Jesus returns, the sun will not shine, the moon will not give out its light, and the stars of the constellation will not shine? Go outside at night and it's a cloudless night. What do you see? Come on, talk to me. Star, everywhere stars, right? Right?

But now in the morning when the sun comes up, what happens? Stars are all gone. What happens? When the sun comes up, all the stars go wham! And then the sun goes wham! And then when the sun goes down, all the stars go bam! And come back. Is that what happens?

See, the glory of the sun is one level, the glory of the stars is another. When the sun comes up, because the glory of the sun is so much greater than the glory of the stars, it darkens the stars. But when Jesus returns, now you get it, his face is so bright that he will literally darken the sun, the moon, and the stars.

That's why the men of this earth are going to cry out for the rocks to fall on them and hide them from the face of him who's coming. So what is the glory of the Lord? Look at Exodus 33 and let me show you. Exodus 33, please.

Moses has got the biggest church of anybody I know. Three million. Dr. Cho is doing great, but Moses had him beat by four times. He's seen miracles like nobody else. Yet he's not satisfied. And he cries out in Exodus 33, verse 18. He says, "please show me your glory." In other words, hey, the miracles are great, but it's not what I'm hungry for.

Show me your glory. You see this? Moses looks at God and says, hey, it's wonderful, but I want to see your glory. Look what God says to him in verse 19. Then God said, "I will make all my goodness pass before you." And I will proclaim the name of the Lord before you.

Now look up at me. When God says, "I will cause all my goodness to pass before you," The Hebrew word goodness there is the Hebrew word twav, which means this. Now listen. The unveiling of something. Nothing hidden or held back. Speaks of splendor.

Are you understanding this? And then what does he say? I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Now, before a king enters into his throne room, first of all, there must be divine order in the court. Isn't that right? Everybody's got to be in their place. Everybody knows who's supposed to talk, right?

And then once there's order in the court, what happens? The herald proclaims the king. Isn't that right? King Henry VIII of England. Then what happens? The trumpet blows and out walks the king in all of his glory. He's got his crown on. He's got his robes on. There is no mistake in that throne room who's king.

Isn't that right? I mean, he's in all of his glory. Isn't that right? But now, if he was on the streets, Of his nation. Unless he's got a large of his kingdom. He's got a large kingdom. Millions. And he was on the streets in a business suit.

And he didn't have his entourage around him. A lot of people might pass right by and not know who he is. Come on, talk to me. Isn't that right? I mean, if they didn't really know him well, they could pass him by. Right?

Well, Joshua saw the Lord. And he looked at the Lord and said, "Are you closer for them?" And the Lord looked at him and said, "Neither. I'm the commander of the hosts of the Lord."

And Joshua fell down on his face and worshipped him. And he said, take off your sandals, this is the holy ground. Joshua saw him, but not in his glory. Didn't even know who he was.

Abraham gave God something to eat by the terrible trees, didn't he? Right? When he came with two angels? Not in his glory. Jacob wrestled with God, didn't he? Come on. Not in his glory.

When Jesus was raised from the dead, who's the first person that he showed himself to? Mary Magdalene, she thought he was the gardener. When Jesus was raised from the dead, he's walking down the road to Venomatus with these two disciples.

And the whole day they didn't even know who he was. Not in his glory. After Jesus was raised from the dead, the disciples are out fishing and he walks out in the shore and says, "throw the nets on the other side."

And all of a sudden they go, it's the Lord. And Jesus, they come into the shore and Jesus cooks them a breakfast and eats and drinks in their presence. Not in his glory.

I mean, John the Apostle had breakfast with Jesus right by the sea. Not in his glory. Isn't that right? But that same John who had breakfast with Jesus by the sea after his resurrection, who didn't even recognize him when he came out until the miracle was done, also saw him on the deserted island of Patmos.

And when he saw him, he said he fell down like a dead man. He said because his face shone like the sun. His eyes were like laser beams. His voice was that of many waters. He saw Him in His glory.

That's the glory of God. What is it? It's everything that makes God, God. And this is what He has created us.

Now watch what happens when God comes down on the mountain. Look at Exodus chapter 20. Are you there? In Exodus 20, look at the 18th verse.

Now all the people witnessed the thunderings and the lightning flashes and the sound of the trumpet and the mountains smoking. When the people saw it, they trembled and stood afar off.

Then they said to Moses, "you speak with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die." Isn't this amazing? This was people that loved signs and wonders and rejoiced when they were done for their benefit.

But yet when His glory came, they all ran back and said, we cannot stand Him. We cannot stand to be in His presence. Now I want you to think about it.

These people have seen the Red Sea split and have walked across on dry ground. These people have seen bread that rained from heaven. They have watched enough quail come out in the wilderness to feed three million.

Yet, when His glory comes, they all run away. So why can this people be so comfortable in the atmosphere of miracles, but yet be so uncomfortable in the presence of His glory? The reason is very simple.

You can hide sin in your heart in the atmosphere of miracles. Jesus said many are going to say we did wonders in your name. He's going to say depart. I never knew you. You could practice iniquity.

But when his glory is refilled, everything that is hidden will be revealed. That is why Jesus says in the New Testament, don't fear them that can kill the body. But fear him who after he's killed the body can cast the soul into hell.

Why does Jesus say this? The verse previous. For there is nothing hidden that will not be made known. You see, you have to understand something, folks. There is nothing hidden in your sight. God has withheld his glory. And that is why God says, prepare yourself.

Because when I come, I'm coming whether you're ready or not. That is why Hosea tells us. That after two days he'll revive us, and the third day we'll live in his sight. Therefore, pursue the knowing of God, because his going forth is established as the morning.

God says, "I am coming after the second day, after 2,000 years, whether you're ready or not." Israel was not ready, because when God came, they ran back. They thought they were ready, because they had experienced such great miracles.

They were the ones that were delivered out of Egypt, that when God came, they ran away. Because they realized everything in them was being exposed by his light.

That is why Adam ran and hid from the presence of God. It was the presence of his glory. It exposed the disobedience in his heart.

I have a friend who had a church building falling on top of him. And he was pronounced dead. He broke his skull, his neck, and his back.

And we were playing golf one day. He came to Orlando and he says, let's go play golf. We were about the 14th hole. I said, tell me again. We're about the 14th hole. Please tell me when you saw Jesus what it was like.

He fell apart for the next four holes. He just wept like a baby. He said, John, he was so bright. He said, the light was so white. You can't even just, we don't have that kind of white in this earth.

He said, and it was so bright. I couldn't see his features. And he said, I knew that light was exposing every cell and fiber of my motives and intentions and being.

And he said, as it began to cleanse me, I started seeing features, and the first features I saw were his eyes. He said his eyes were piercing. He said, I knew that every cell of my being was exposed to his eyes, yet I sensed his love.

Moses looks at these people in verse 20, and he says to them, "do not fear." For God has come to test you. Everybody say, "do not fear."

God has come to test you. And what's the test? That his fear may be before you so that you may not sin.

Now notice Moses says, "do not fear." Don't be afraid of God. Because God's come to test you to see if his fear is in you. That's the fear of God.

Right there, Moses differentiates between being afraid of God and fearing God. The person who is afraid of God will run from his presence because he's got something to hide.

The person who fears God will draw near, even though he's trembling. Are you seeing this? That is why the next verse says this.

So then the people stood afar off, but Moses drew near the thick darkness where God was. Notice, Moses draws near, but the people draw back.

Now, back to the question that we asked right at the very beginning. What caused the children of Israel's eyes to be blinded to his glory? The firm answer is found in Deuteronomy chapter 5. Go over there quickly. Deuteronomy the 5th chapter please.

This was 40 years later. And Moses is reviewing what happened on the mountain 40 years previous. And look what he says to the people. So it was when you heard the voice of the midst of the darkness. This is verse 23.

Excuse me. So it was when you heard the voice from the midst of the darkness while the mountain was burning with fire that you came near to me, all the heads of your tribes and your elders, and you said, "Surely the Lord our God has shown us His glory and His greatness."

We have heard His voice from the midst of the fire. We have seen this day that God speaks with man, yet he still lives.

Now therefore, why should we die? For this great fire will consume us if we hear the voice of the Lord our God anymore, and we shall die.

Verse 27. You go near and hear all that the Lord our God may say, and tell us all the Lord our God says to you, and we will hear and do it. Look up at me.

That's the tragedy that much of America has fallen into. Pastor, you go hear from God, tell us what he says, and we'll do it.

The tragedy is this, that Christians have learned how to be content without the presence of God. Now, can you understand as a pastor, I know you can, the devastation in Moses when the people said, no, no, no, no, no, no, we don't want to, we cannot go anywhere near.

You go talk to him, tell us whatever he says, we'll do it. Now, they proved they couldn't do it for 1,500 years. Amen.

So Moses, devastated with their report, with their desire, goes up to the Lord. He cannot believe that these people, God has delivered them.

With such mighty signs, brought them to the mountain to reveal himself. And they said, no, no, no, we can't handle this.

So with devastation, Moses goes up to the mountain. But what he doesn't realize is that God already heard what they said.

And look what happens here. Verse 28. Then the Lord heard the voice of your words when you spoke to me.

And the Lord said to me, I have heard the voice of the words of this people which they have spoken to you. And they are right in all that they have spoken.

Now, would you look up at me? God says, Moses, I already heard what they said. And they're right.

And they're right. And Moses goes, what? You mean for once they're right? Why can't they come into your presence? Why can't they hear your voice from the midst of your glory?

And God answers this question in the very next verse by lamenting and saying in verse 29, Oh, that they had such a heart in them that they would fear me and always keep all my commandments.

Now, church, listen to me. This is where I've wanted to get to all morning. Moses feared God and drew near. The children of Israel didn't fear God, therefore they couldn't stand to draw near, even though they wanted to, before he came.

If we examine and contrast the difference between Moses and the children of Israel, we will understand the difference between a person in the church that fears God and a person in the church who doesn't fear God. Because all of them got delivered from Egypt, didn't they?

We're not talking about the Egyptians right here, are we? So we're not even talking about the religious ones that think they're saved.

We're talking about the ones that are actually delivered from Egypt. Isn't that right? If we contrast the life of Moses with the life of Israel, we'll understand the difference between a person who's come out of the world, been born again, who fears God, and a person that is saved, so to speak, churched, that doesn't fear God.

Right? So let's find out. Let's look first of all at the children of Israel. Go with me to Exodus chapter 4. And let me show you something about them.

Now, in Exodus 4, we're going

Here is the cleaned and formatted sermon transcription:

Ael. And Aaron spoke all the words which the Lord had spoken to Moses. Then he did the signs on the side of the people. Now, would you look up at me? Can you imagine you have been a slave all your life? Your father was a slave. His father was a slave. His father was a slave. His father was a slave. 400 years. I mean, America is just a little over 200 years old. Can you understand? You have been in slavery for 400 years and you have been waiting for God's promise. You have been waiting for the deliverer to come. Your father didn't see it. Your father's father didn't see it. Your father's father's father didn't see it, even though they looked for it. And now finally, here comes the deliverer with the signs and the wonders. Moses proclaims the word of God and he does the signs and the wonders. Can you imagine the joy in that room? Can you imagine? My God, 400 years we've waited and now we're seeing it. Can you just imagine it?

So look what verse 30 says. 31. So the people what? Say it again. The people believed and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and they looked on their affliction, they bowed their heads in worship. Can you imagine the praise and worship service they had? Come on now, just stop and think about it. They believed and they worshipped.

Right? Moses walks out of that place with all those leaders and walks right into Pharaoh. And says the exact same words that God spoke on the mountain and does the signs. Thus saith the Lord, let my people go. And Pharaoh looks at Moses and says, Oh, they want to go worship their God in the desert? They're obviously not busy enough. Sounds like they need some more work, Moses.

And so Pharaoh adds hardship to them. So you have to understand the life. They got up every morning, went to the brick pits and worked all through that Middle Eastern sun until the end of the day, went home, ate something, collapsed and went to bed and got up and did the same thing the next day.

Now Pharaoh looks at Moses and says, well, it's obvious they're not busy enough, so now let them get their own straw. We won't provide it anymore. They used to have the straw to make the bricks provided. Now they're going to have to get up before dawn and go out while it's dark. Glean the straw from the fields. Bring it to the brick pits. Start doing their job and still have the same amount of bricks. Finish at dawn. Excuse me, at dusk. And then go back out to the fields because they didn't get enough.

And then go home, collapse, and get up and do the same thing. So the result of Moses preaching God's word increased. Their hardship. Are you getting this? So the people looked at Moses and said, Satan, you're making our lives more miserable. It was better for us before you came. Don't preach anymore. Leave us alone. Let us serve the Egyptians.

So God in his mercy delivers them. And Moses leads them out and brings them by way of the Red Sea. And then God, not the devil, hardens Pharaoh's heart and lets him go after him with his chariots, with his calvary. Look what happens here. Go to Exodus 14. Quickly. I'm preaching all morning to get to this point. Exodus 14. Pharaoh's heart is hardened. They're backed up by the Red Sea.

And the children of Israel look up and see the world's number one calvary coming right at them. And look what happens here in the 10th verse. And when Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians marched after them. So they were very afraid, and the children of Israel cried out to the Lord.

How religious. Because I'm going to show you why. Verse 11. Then they said to Moses, because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us out to die in this wilderness? Why have you dealt with us?

To bring us up out of Egypt. Now look at verse 12 carefully. Is this not the word that we told you in Egypt, saying, let us alone? That we may serve the Egyptians. For it would have been better for us.

Would you repeat those words with me? For it would have been better for us. Say it again. Say it again. Now say it this way. For it would have been better for me. For it would have been better for me to serve the Egyptians than that we should die in the wilderness. If those words.

What is better for me? If those words are in your heart. They will keep you from ever fulfilling the call of God in your life. What if Esther said that? What if Esther says, what's better for me?

She's queen. She's a Hebrew. Nobody knows she's a Hebrew. She's married to the Persian king. Israel's in captivity to Persia. An evil man plots to kill every single Jew. Mordecai, her uncle, comes to her and says, Esther, every one of the Jews is condemned to death.

Esther says, but it's not my turn to speak to the king. Mordecai says, you've been brought in the kingdom for such a time as this. You have to understand, you're not your time to speak before the king. Even if she's queen, even if she's her wife, and she goes and speaks, and he doesn't point that scepter at her, her head comes off.

And if he's not feeling so good about her, her head's coming off. You understand? And Mordecai looks, you've been brought in, and says, you've been brought in the kingdom for such a time as this. And Esther looks at it and says, go tell the women to fast. I'm going before the king, and if I die, I die.

Now, she had nothing to gain. She's already queen. She's already got everything a woman could want. She's got nothing to gain and everything to lose, including her head. If the words, what is better for me, would have been in her heart, she never would have gone before the king.

Are you seeing this? What if Abraham said, what's better for me, when God says to give up your promise that you love so much? The most important thing in his life, if Abraham would have said, what's better for me, he never would have done it. But the Bible says, early in the morning.

Some people say, you know, God's been dealing with me about this for several months. Ha, ha, ha. Lack of the fear of God. You don't tremble at His word. Abraham, early the next morning, without hesitation, does not say what is better for me. He goes and obeys.

And God says, because you've not held up your son, now I know you fear me. That's what it means to fear God, is when you tremble at His word and His presence. God... miraculously gets these people out of this trouble again. He splits the Red Sea. Now think about this.

Forget the movie. You went and saw it. Okay? It's nice, but it's not it. They're walking through dry ground at the bottom of a sea, looking at two, probably 100 to 200 foot tall walls of water, going, my God, I'll never doubt them again.

They get to the other side and watch their oppressors for 400 years, buried. Right? And then what happens?

They have a party. I mean, Miriam and all the women, one million women take the tambourines out and start dancing and singing the song of the Lord. I mean, we had a great time here this morning, but they put us to shame.

Not to shame, but it was even bigger. Can you imagine? One million women just violently dancing in joy. Right? Right?

Three days later. Today's Sunday. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. Not enough water. The water they do find is bitter. God's brought us out here to die. Let's raise up another leader and go back.

It was better for us back in Egypt. What am I describing to you? I'm describing you a people that as long as God is doing for them what they want, when they want it, they're praising and believing. But when he's not doing what they want, when they want it, they're complaining and complaining.

Is nothing more than a form of rebellion. Complaining says to God, I don't like what you're doing, and if I was you, I would do it differently. It is an extreme lack of the fear of God.

Now let's look at Moses. Go to Hebrews chapter 11. Are you getting this? Hebrews chapter 11. In Hebrews 11, I want to look at the 24th verse, please.

The word of God says here, by faith, Moses, when he became of age, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, verse 25, choosing rather to suffer.

Wait a minute. Choosing rather to suffer. Let's read that again. Choosing rather to suffer. Let's read it again. Choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin.

Now, you know what's amazing to me? The children of Israel, did they choose to suffer? Moses chose it. Moses had everything a young man could want and chose to give her it up.

In order to obey God. And in his obedience, he suffered. He wasn't a masochist. He chose obedience and in his obedience he suffered.

Let me tell you something. Many times that you choose to obey God, you will suffer. Please, mark that down. Obedience many times will mean you will end up suffering. God's way is not the easy way. It's not the pampered way.

The world's way is, you want to know how to get out of all persecution, all affliction? Do you want to know how to get out of it? Persecution? Just compromise. It'll stop. All those that live godly in Christ shall suffer persecution. Amen.

Moses chose it, yet we never find any complaining in him. We don't find any evidence of him complaining.

Now look what the Bible says. Verse 26. Esteeming the reproach of Christ. Greater riches than the treasures in Egypt. For he looked to the reward.

Wait a minute. The reproach of Christ? He found the persecution of Christ. The reproach that came with servant Christ. A greater riches than all that could be found in Egypt.

Now stop and think how many really choose that today? Yet he did. For he looked to the reward. Everybody say he looked to the reward. Say it again. What was the reward?

What was the reward? Exodus 33. You'll see it. Got a little hint in the beginning of the service. We'll see it again. Are you there? Now watch this.

Verse 1. Exodus 33. Then the Lord said to Moses, depart. Go up from here. You and the people whom you have brought out of the land of Egypt, the land which I swore to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, saying to your descendants, I'll give it. And I'll send my angel before you, and I'll drive out the Canaanite, the Amorite, the Hittite, the Perizzite, the Hivite, and the Jebusite.

Now would you look up at me? God looks at Abraham and says, Abraham, go on down, get the people, and go to the promised land, the land that I've been promising you for 400 years, that I promised Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. I'm going to send a choice angel.

I'm going to drive out all the ites. Got it? Sounds pretty good, doesn't it? I mean, the land you've been waiting for for 400 years, right?

Hello? Look what God says in verse 3. Go up to the land flowing with milk and honey, for I will not go up in your midst, unless I consume you on your way, because you're stiff-necked people.

Now would you look up at me? God says, I'm going to send a choice angel, but I'm not going. Now, I'm glad he didn't say this to the children of Israel. Because they would have had a party and gone.

I mean, if they would have taken Egypt without God, I'm sure they would have taken the promised land with an angel. Hello? Hello?

I mean, verse 4 says they were upset, but they were upset because they called him stiff-necked. But I'm glad he didn't put that to the children of Israel.

Go get the promised land. But look what Moses says in verse 15. Then Moses said to God, If your presence does not go with us, do not bring us up from here.

Moses said, God, you can forget the promises without your presence. I'd rather be here. Now, where is here? The place of suffering.

Moses said, I'd rather be in this place of suffering with your presence than in the land with vineyards and rivers and orchards and big houses without it. We've just drawn a line.

We've just drawn a line right down through the middle of the church in the 20th century, especially in this last decade. Moses feared God.

And a person who fears God, his number one interest, his number one passion, is to please the heart of God and to have his presence.

The line we've just drawn is those in the church that are serving God for what he can do for them.

And those in the church, they're serving God because of who he is. Those who serve God because of who He is, fear Him.

Those who serve God for what He can do, serve Him to get something from Him. They lack the fear of God.

They are the ones that will continually say, when pressure hits, what is better for me? No family will up and go to former USSR and preach, saying, what is better for me?

Steve Hill described perfectly last night what happens to a person that's called and gets caught up in building, improving homes and selling and making money.

He affirms with his mouth he loves the Lord. He affirms with the mouth he wants to serve God, but his heart pursues his own game.

It's the lack of the fear of God. You'll serve who you fear. If you fear man, you'll serve man. If you fear God, you'll serve God.

So if you fear man, you'll serve yourself. That's where all intimidation and fear comes from.

Would you like to know how to be totally free from fear? Do you know that God has called you to live a life totally free of fear?

Would you like to know how to be totally free from fear? Put up your hands.

If you'd really like to know, put up your hands. Die. Now, wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Wait, wait, wait, wait.

I'm serious. The Bible says perfected love casts out fear. What is perfected love?

Jesus says no greater love is this and the man lays down his life for his friend, his master. Perfected love is when you lose your life for him. When you're dead, you can't fear.

You can walk up to a guy in a casket and put a gun right to his head and say, I'm going to blow your head off. He won't even flinch. He's dead.

You know all this self-image crap that's being preached? I use my word carefully. And some of you got offended.

It's nowhere in the word of God. It is nowhere. It is so anti-gospel. Self-image.

I remember when I was an associate pastor in the 80s. A woman who worked in the church. We had a large church. We had about 150 staff members.

One of the women walked in the church and our pastor traveled a lot. And so we did a lot of the counseling.

One of the women walked in my office one day and she was just crying. Oh, Pastor John, I have such a terrible self-image.

And before I even knew what I said, I looked up and said, that's your problem.

And she shook her. Like, you're a pastor. You're supposed to listen to me and then pray for me.

I said, that's your problem. I said, where do you find self-image in the Gospels?

I said, Jesus said, if any man will come after me, let him deny himself, take out his cross and follow me. Cross speaks of death.

And dead people don't have an image problem.

To help her with this, I said, have you ever been to a funeral and a woman's in the casket and she jumps up out of the casket and said, you put the wrong color clothes on me. You pointed my hair on the wrong side.

This is the last time people are going to see me. I'm a slimmer, not a winner.

I said, she couldn't care less if you put her in there in a paper sack. She has no image problem. She's dead.

The Lord said to me one day, is there any area in your life that you find fearing as an area of your life that you haven't given to me?

He said, you still own it. You haven't put it under the cross yet.

One day I was in San Diego preaching and all of a sudden that thing tried to hit me with my kids.

Well, so-and-so's preacher, his kids died. So-and-so's preacher, his kids died.

I have four sons. I love them very much. I'm so-and-so's preacher, his kids.

And I yelled it out. I screamed out. I was taking off my shoes. I screamed out and I said, Addison! That's my oldest. He's not mine.

Austin! That's my second. He's not mine. I went right through them. Went right through my wife.

I said, they're not mine. I don't own them. I'm steward over those children and God's giving me that wife and I'm steward over her.

They're not mine. They're God's. I don't own them. And I said this in my room.

I said, God, they're yours. You can do whatever you want with them. But devil, you're not touching them. End of fear.

See, it's just any area you fear is an area you haven't put on the cross. You get free from the fear of man.

And the worst fear of man is the fear for your own self.

So number one thing Jesus had to fight in the garden was self-preservation.

He fought it for three hours, but he overcame.

And that's why he looks at us and says, I've overcome the world.

That's the greatest, greatest battle every human has to go through is self-preservation.

Are you here? Let me try to wrap it up here in the next hour. Go to Philippi

Here is the cleaned-up version of the sermon transcription:

Presence. Work out your own salvation with love and kindness. Is there a problem? Does your Bible say something else? Work out your own salvation with joy and laughter. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling? I thought the fear of God just means to respect Him. Well, that's what you get for thinking instead of reading.

Let me tell you something. I've been in atmospheres where the presence of God came in. It was so fearful that I didn't know if I could take any more. And yet, in my heart, I was drawn to it. My mind was saying, can I handle any more of this? There is a trembling that is healthy. It draws us to Him. It doesn't repel us.

If you fear Him, Moses exceedingly feared, the Bible says, and trembled. But he drew near. You can't understand it with your head. He'll never figure it out.

Now, what are the children of Israel? As long as God's doing what they want when they want it, they're praising. And they're obeying. But when His presence is not manifesting and He's not doing for them what they want when they want it, what are they doing?

Come on, say it.

Now, compare them, just for a minute, compare them with Joseph. Remember Joseph? Huh? Joseph, the son of Jacob, the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. Remember Joseph in the Bible? Joseph's got ten older brothers, right? I mean, Jacob had twelve sons. What a blessed man.

I talked to my wife about that one day. And it didn't go over real well. She looked at me and said, he had four wives. I said, understood. No more wives.

Now, I love my wife. My wife is my very best friend. But anyway, he has ten older brothers. And his older brothers don't like him very much. Because his father favors him. And he's kind of a tattletale when he shows up on the scene.

And one day Joseph goes to sleep and God gives him a dream. Everybody say, God. God gives him a dream and says, you're going to be a leader and your brothers are going to bow down and serve you. Right? Right?

And Joseph woke up and with great excitement went and told everybody. Now his brothers didn't share in his enthusiasm.

A couple nights later he goes to sleep and has another dream. Now his mother and father and brothers are all going to serve him. He gets up and tells them now they're all upset.

Joseph's brothers go out into the field. They're tending the flocks. Joseph's father says, I want you to bring some supplies and see how they're doing. They're a great distance. They're miles away.

So Joseph brings the supplies. And when the brothers see Joseph coming, they say, oh, here comes Mr. Leader. Here comes Mr. Man with the calling of God on his life. Let's kill him and see if he ever leads us.

These are his brothers.

So they take Joseph, tear off his robe, dip it in ram's blood to fool the father. And throw him into a pit, a deep pit. Now, pit stands for preachers in training, by the way.

So, they put him in this pit to die. Okay? And they're all excited. They're having a party. They're like, alright, this brat's gone now.

But a few hours later, a caravan of Ishmaelites comes down the road to do slave trading. And Judah, the fourth born, whom David and Jesus came through, says, guys, I got an idea.

If we let him die, he's done. But we don't get anything out of it except he's done. Why don't we sell him as a slave and we'll get some money out of it and he'll be as good as dead? Because when you were sold as a slave to another nation back then, you would be a slave the rest of your life. Your wife would be a slave. Your children would be a slave.

You understand?

And so they sell him as a slave. And they get 20 pieces of silver. And Joseph is taken down to Egypt and sold to one of Pharaoh's officers named Potiphar.

Sold Potiphar as slave.

Now, you have to understand, back then it was everything for a young man to receive his father's name and inheritance. What his brothers did to him was basically strip him of everything that a young man pursued in the natural. It was like they killed him.

Now, listen to me.

Joseph is a slave for ten years. Everybody say ten years. Yet we don't find one ounce of complaining. Not even a shred of it.

Now you stop and think about it. You've gone ten years. God made you a promise. And you haven't seen an ounce of the promise come to pass.

I see people that are upset with the Lord after three weeks. Their prayer is not answered. Now they won't show it outwardly because most people don't have the guts to say they're upset. But what they do is they turn within. And become cool. And they're commonly offended with God. But you don't find that with Joseph.

You don't find any complaining. Their offense with God manifests with complaining. Nothing's ever right. Nothing ever is good enough.

Joseph is a slave for 10 years. Listen to this. No Bible, no church, no revival services, no brothers, no books.

Now, I love the way this man fears God. He's a slave for 10 years. Not an ounce of God's promise coming to pass. Don't find any complaining. And now at the end of 10 years, something really bad begins to develop because the master's wife gets the hots for him.

She wants to commit adultery. Now she begins, now listen, she begins to press him every day.

Now, I'm not talking about once. I'm talking about every day. And this woman has got a seducing spirit up her eyeballs. And she's dressed in the finest and scented with the best.

And she approaches him every single day. Joseph, lie with me. Lie with me. Lie with me.

He goes, no, no, no. God forbid I sin against Him. No, no, no.

I love the way he fears God. Finally, the day comes. They're alone in the house. She grabs his robe and says, lie with me.

And he says, God forbid I sin against God and do this wicked thing against your husband.

And he does what the Bible says. What does the Bible say? Flees sexual immorality. He flees, right? He runs.

And when he runs, she's got the robe. It tears. He runs out of the house naked. She's got the robe in her hand. And she screams rape. She's a scorned woman.

Now he's blamed for the very thing he's running from. And he's thrown into the dungeon.

Now, would you please stop and think about this?

He's an obedient young man pursuing God, fears God. His brothers are wicked. They're living very successfully for over 10 years. He's gone to slavery for just preaching the dream.

Now, after 10 years of being faithful as a slave, he does exactly what the Word of God says, runs from sexual immorality, and the result of obeying God's Word brings him unbelievable hardship. He goes to the dungeon.

So you could stop and think, what good is it to obey you, Lord? The more I obey, the worse it gets.

It's been about three weeks. We're not talking about a year. We're talking about 12 years. Do you know what Middle Eastern dungeons are like?

I've been in one. The Bible says they laid his arms and irons and his feet with chains and hurt him with fetters until the time that the word of the Lord came to pass.

The word of the Lord tested him.

I've been in those dungeons. Many times there's things about this high. You can't stand up in it. They chain them. You live in your waste. They give you what's known as the bread of affliction and water of affliction. Just enough to keep you alive because dying is too easy.

When you're a slave from another nation and you're accused of raping one of your king's leaders, right-hand men's wives, you're put in there to rot, buddy. You understand?

Do you understand? He is put in that dungeon to rot. And you know what? He's been in there for two years.

Will you please stop and think about two years in that kind of a place? Yet we don't find any complaining. Then after 12 years of not seeing one ounce of a dream come to pass, and two years in that dungeon, God brings Joseph the ultimate test of the fear of the Lord.

Do you know what it is?

He brings two men to him. A butler and a baker. Now listen.

Here's the ultimate test of your fear of God.

He's lived 12 years without seeing an ounce of division come to pass. As a matter of fact, the more he obeys, the worse it gets.

God brings him the butler and the baker at the end of that 12 years. And you know what the test is?

Can he look at those two men and proclaim the faithfulness of God when he hasn't seen any evidence of it in his own life personally for over 12 years?

Can he proclaim the faithfulness of God to them when he hasn't seen the evidence in his own life?

He's one of my favorite personalities in the Old Testament. He does.

He looks at those men and he proclaims the faithfulness of God, the goodness of God, the greatness of God, and he interprets their dreams.

You know what would have happened with many people if they'd gone through 12 years like that and not seen one ounce of God's promise come to pass?

They would have looked, hey, they would have looked at those guys and said, would you just leave me alone? I know you've got problems, but I've got problems too. I'm not going to minister to you.

Everything I thought I heard from God, nothing's come to pass. Just leave me alone.

And you know what would have happened?

He would have died.

In the grips of bitterness.

And you know what he would have died saying? God is not faithful and He does not keep His promises.

When the truth is He is faithful and He does keep His promises.

The only thing is he aborted it by his complaining. Complaining is a killer. It is an extreme lack of the fear of God.

Now look what Paul says. Verse 12 again.

Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling.

For it is God who works in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure.

Look at verse 14. Do all things without complaining. Hello? Are you seeing it?

And disputing.

Now look at verse 15. That. Everybody say that.

Now, when it tells you to do something in order that something will happen, it means if you don't do that something, this won't happen, right?

Did you get that? Do all things without complaining and disputing that you may become blameless and harmless children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation among whom you shine as light in the world.

Holding fast the word of life. Joseph shined all over Egypt because he held fast the word of the Lord.

The word of the Lord tested him.

Abraham shined because he held fast.

The children of Israel complained. They never saw their promise. They aborted the will of God for their own lives. Their lack of the fear of God not only kept them from the glory of God, it kept them from the promised land.

You mark this down. There's a circuit box in this building somewhere. Main circuit.

You go to that circuit box and you pull the main circuit breaker. What happens? Every one of the lights goes out.

That's exactly what complaining does to your spirit. It immediately cuts off the life of God in you.

That's why God continually says in everything, give thanks. Because when you're thanking God, it gets you to focus on what He's done. When you're complaining, it gets your focus on what you think He hasn't done.

And if just Him delivering us out of a devil's hell that the fire is never quenched and the worm never dies, if just that is all you can think of, which I know it isn't, that's enough to keep us shouting for a million, trillion, gazillion years. Let alone the fact you got clothes, you ate something this morning, you still got a house.

I just was in Honduras two weeks ago. A lot of them didn't have houses. But I've never seen so much joy.

I'm a church that's gone through so much devastation in the church. It's wonderful. It's a testimony of our God and His grace.

Complaining gets your focus on what you think He hasn't done. Thanking gets your focus on what He's done.

Let me end it with this.

Four years ago, or three years ago, I can't remember. I think it was four years ago this summer. I was in Malaysia. It was my first time there. I've been to Malaysia four times since.

I preached there. It was in the largest Bible school in the nation. They also had pastors from all over the nation come and people come. The auditorium was just packed. It was one of the hardest places I've ever preached in my life.

We had morning and night services Monday through Friday. It was like preaching against a brick wall six inches from it.

Finally, on Friday morning, the place was packed. The last service, God gave us a breakthrough.

And it happened when the Lord put it in my heart to call all the women to the front that were called to full-time ministry.

A bunch of women came to the front. And all of a sudden, the Spirit of God came into that place in a mighty way. They began laughing. You could sense the love and the joy, the loving presence of God in that building.

And I'm watching these Asian women. In Asia, most of the time, people are very, very quiet. They start laughing.

That wave of His presence lasted for a few minutes, lifted, there was a break, and then another wave came through. The next wave that came through, people started laughing all over the building.

Hysterically. Some of them.

I watched one Indian couple, because the Bible school had people from all over the western hemisphere. I watched one Indian couple, I watched the wife just on the floor, literally howling and almost rolling.

I mean, that's where holy rollers came from.

I've learned that.

I've watched people in Indonesia sit there and roll back and forth on the floor, laughing hysterically from the joy of the Lord.

This woman from India is just laughing hysterically. And it lifted.

And the Spirit of the Lord spoke in my heart. He said, I'm coming one more time. And he said, but this one is going to be different.

I had no idea what he was talking about. But I did about 30 seconds after he spoke it to me. Because all of a sudden, a presence came into that room.

It was fearful. I remember when that presence came in, what came out of my mouth was, oh my God.

And I remember that presence coming in there. And it was almost terrifying.

And people that were laughing hysterically now started screaming as if they were on fire. And it wasn't just head screaming. I mean, it was like they were literally on fire.

And these are quiet Asian people. And I am walking back and forth on that platform. And the thought goes through my mind. John, you say one wrong word. You make one wrong move. You're dead.

I am telling you that thought went through my mind and it was strong.

I don't know if I would have died, but I will say this, Ananias and Sapphira did.

I knew that irreverence would not be tolerated in that presence. Any form of irreverence, even from the preacher.

I'm walking back and forth and these people are screaming like they're on fire. And out of my mouth comes these words and my ears heard it for the first time in my life after my own mouth said it.

And that was this.

This is the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

And all of a sudden when my ears heard it, my mind went, that's it. That's it. That's one of the manifestations of this Holy Spirit.

Isaiah 11, in speaking about Jesus, said that the spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of might, the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of understanding, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

Well, that's one of the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.

When we left that building that day, the Indian couple looked at me and said, John, we feel so clean inside. I said, so do I.

And then I'm reading my Bible in Psalms 19, a few days later, and it says, the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.

And I started thinking about it.

Lucifer worshipped before the throne of God. He was anointed. He didn't fear God. He didn't endure forever.

A third of the angels worshiped before His throne. They didn't fear God. They didn't endure forever.

Adam and Eve walked in His glorious presence. They didn't fear God. They didn't endure forever.

And a thought hit me. Every person that stands around His throne throughout eternity will be tested in one area. And that is the fear.

I'll end it with one scripture and I'll close.

Psalm 25.

I've just touched on this this morning. Please get the book and read it.

You see, folks, let me tell you something. Jesus said that God gives the Holy Spirit to those who obey Him. And He said, if you being children know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father give the Holy Spirit to them to ask Him?

I found out that we as the children of God can cry out for the spirit of the fear of the Lord.

There were so many in here last night, and I know many of them were not church members, but I kept saying when I was praying for them, what do you want from God? They just said, more of God. And I found what kept coming out of my spirit was, be specific. Why do you want more of God? What do you want?

And every person that looked back at me and got specific, the anointing of God, and most of them said, I want to fear Him.

It was like I laid hands on Him, and the Spirit of God hid Him.

Psalm 25. Verse 9. The humble He guides in justice. And the humble He teaches His way. Everybody say He teaches His way. His ways to the humble. But who is the humble? All the paths of the Lord are mercy and truth to such as keep His