Gregory Dickow - Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
Well, I want to welcome you to a very special edition of The Power to Change Today. Recently, God spoke to me and he said, tell my people perfect love casts out fear. And today's teaching is all about the perfect love of God that casts out all our fears. Everyone know how. Everyone knows how. Fear limits us. Fear hinders us. Fear paralyzes us. There's thousands and thousands of fears in this world. The fear of spiders, the fear of heights, the fear of water, the fear of air, the fear of falling, you name it. There's so many fears. But I believe that there are seven basic fears that each of us deal with. We're going to go through them today in today's program. We're going to overcome them by the perfect love of God. And it's got nothing to do with what you do for God. It's got everything to do with what he's done for you. This is going to radically transform your life forever to make your faith work with faith, works by love, perfect love. The love of God casts out all your fears, anxieties, worries. Watch this and find out.
There is no fear in love when you're in love, fear leaves. So you know what we need to be focused on? Knowing that God is in love with us. Knowing that God is in love with us, but I don't, but I don't deserve it. Exactly. That's why it's love, because if you deserved it, it wouldn't be love. It would be a trade. It wouldn't be free, it would be your you're buying something or you're selling something. God's love is free, which means there's nothing you can do to earn it, deserve it or work for it. You say, well, how's that going to help me get my bills paid? You'll see. I still got 20 minutes. You'll see. Now, listen. He says in first John, for 18, there is no fear in love, so you got that point when you are in a love affair with God. Fear leaves. There's no fear in that.
When they're when you're in a relationship that there's no love in that relationship, then there is going to be fear in that relationship. There's either fear or there's love. You either have a fear based relationship with people or you have a love based relationship with people in every relationship you have. It's either fear based or love based. When it's love based fear leaves. When it's fear based, it's because you're seeking something from that person rather than having unconditional love for that person. When God loves us, it's unconditional. It is without debate, without question, he never takes it back. There is no fear in love, but look at what the next part of the verse says, but perfect love. Perfect love, what kind of love, perfect love casts out fear. Perfect love now, perfect love cannot be our love because we can't love perfectly perfect love is God's love for us. Perfect love is the love.
That is willing. To lay his life down. For his friends, that's perfect love. Perfect love is the love that sacrificed for you, perfect love is the love that gave himself for you. Perfect love is what Jesus did. Perfect love is complete love. It is love that is complete. It's that's the word perfect telos in Greek. It means complete. It means there's nothing missing in this love. What is God trying to tell us? His love for you is complete. There's nothing you can do to add to it and there's nothing you can do to take away from it. It is complete. It is self-sufficient. It is self-sustaining. His love for you cannot and will not change because it's not based on you. It's based on his character and his nature, not your performance.
Well, that sets people free when you get when you get a hold of that, you're no longer trying to get God's approval when you already know you got it. But most Christians live in fear. And that's why the Bible says perfect love casts out fear, perfect love, God's love towards you casts out fear. So our again, our objective, when we're living in fear and most of us have one fear or another that we're experiencing and dealing with. But when you understand God's perfect love, when you get a hold of the reality of his love for you, fear leaves. You don't have to try to make fear, leave. You just need to understand God's love. And fear leaves the greater understanding you have of God's love, the more fear will leave your life.
Now, I don't have to prove my case about how much fear is actually in our lives. Would you all agree that there is so many fears that that people deal with all the time? That I mean, there's the fear of heights and there's the fear of of depths and there's the fear of spiders and there's the fear of water and there's the fear of breathing and there's a fear of not breathing. And there's the fear of death and there's the fear of life and there's the fear of people and there's a fear of failing and the fear of falling. And we go on and on and on. You go up, go look on any website and and just do a search on phobias or fears. And there's the fear. There's thousands of fears that people deal with thousands of them that are crippling people, anxieties, fears, nervousness, worry. And you may you may say, well, I don't have all of these, but if you just have one that is controlling your life, that's the one that you that needs to be cast out.
But even though there's thousands of fears that men have defined, I believe that fear is I believe there are significantly seven major fears that God wants to cast out with his perfect love. The perfect love casts out fear. I believe there are seven types of fear, seven major fears that we all deal with. And I want us to look at those and I want us to expect today to be delivered from those. I want us to expect that those fears are going to be cast out by the end of this service in the next few moments. Whatever fear you're going through is cast out, he says. Perfect love casts out fear, perfect love casts out fear. What are the major fears in our lives? Go over with me to Luke, Chapter 15. I'm going to I'm going to bring out the seven major fears in our lives with a story that you may not think relates to fear, but it really does. And and I want to illustrate this. The way that perfect love casts out fear.
You remember the story of the prodigal son, right? So the son says to his father, there's two sons. The younger son says to his father, give me everything that my inheritance. I want it now. I'm leaving. So his father gives him what was his inheritance. And he leaves and goes, wastes it on loose living, wastes it on sinful choices, wastes it on on all the bad things in life and the and vices and who knows what he got himself into. But it was a pretty significant inheritance, I would imagine, because this father has many servants, much land, much inheritance to give to his sons. And so he gives his son his inheritance. He wastes it all and his son comes to his senses in verse 17. And when he came to himself, it says when he came to his senses or when he came to himself, which is really when you get born again, it's the first time you really come to your senses.
It's the first time you really come to yourself. He gets born again. This, in a sense, this boy comes to himself, or even if we're already born again, coming to our self means we come to realize who we are in Christ. He comes to himself. Comes to his senses and he says to himself, how many hired servants of my father have bread enough to spare and I am perishing with hunger, I know what I'll do. Verse 18, he says, I will arise and go to my father and will say to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven and in your sight, and I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Just make me as one of your hired servants. And I want you to see in verse 17 or excuse me, in first 18, he says, I will arise and go to my father. You know that the this to me, these words, I will arise and go to my father. This represents to me the perfect will of God for our lives.
You know what? We're not going to figure out every little turn we should make in life, every little road we should go down in life. We're not going to hit it. We're not going to hit the target every single time. But if we will do what this young boy says, he says, I will arise and go to my father. If we will understand that, if we will just do that, I will arise and go to my father. We will find ourselves in the perfect will of God. The perfect will of God is go to God as your father, see him as your father, run to him as your father, go to him as your father. Whenever there's something lacking in your life, go to God as your Heavenly Father, talk to him as your Heavenly Father. Pray to him as your Heavenly Father. Don't see him as some austere, distant God out there.
See him as who he really is. He is your Heavenly Father and he loves you. And this boy said, I will arise and go to my father and I will say, Father, I've sinned against heaven in your sight. I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. Just make me one of your hired servants and verse twenty and heroes. And the Bible says as he came to his father while he was here, a great way off, while he was yet a great way off. Notice what it says. His father saw him. Where was this son? He was still a great way off. He was way off. He was far away. This is a picture of so many of us saved or unsaved. We're way off. How many have ever been way off? We've been way off in our life. We've been way off with our attitude. We've been way off in our choices.
How many have made decisions? And, you know, man, that decision was way off that way of thinking his way off. This way of behaving his way off. Who here cannot who here cannot admit or who among us will be willing to admit? We've all been way off. We've been way off. When it came to doing the right thing. We've been way off when it came to treating people the right way. We've been way off when it came to obeying God completely. We have been way off. Many Christians think we've got to do everything right. So God will come to us. We've got to do everything right. So Jesus, will you rescue us? We've got to do everything right. So God will love us. We've got to do everything right so God will approve us. But what this son demonstrates is he had done everything wrong. And even when he was way off, even when he was way out there, even when he was backslidden, even when he was rebellious, even when he was in sin, even though he was way off, the father saw him.
And you need to know something. You don't have to be on target in every area of your life for God to see you. He sees you when you're way off. He sees you when you're far off. He sees you when you're a great distance away. He sees you when he's here. Live it. He's holy and he's righteous. And you're way over here and you're not doing what's right and you're not thinking what's right and you're not saying what's right. God is not saying change your actions and then I'll draw near to you. While this sun was way off, the Bible says the father saw him, the father had compassion on him and the father ran to him. This is the love that casts out. Fear is when you're way off, he sees you when you're way off. He has compassion and love for you. And when you're way off, he comes running to you. He's not waiting for you to run. He's not waiting for you to obey. He's not waiting for you to do right. He's not waiting for you to cross all your T's and dot all your eyes.
When he sees you way off, he knows you're too way off. He didn't want this son, though. He was way off to start his journey towards God and then realized, man, he'll never accept me, man. He'll never want me, man. I stink like pigs, man. I've wasted all his money, man. I've dishonored my father. I've dishonored his name. I've just credit his name. I've maxed out his credit card. Think about what the son has done. And he could have stalled and he could have. Sometimes we think I'm going to do the right thing. And in that time, between the time we decide and the time we do actually carry it out, we have doubts, we have fears, we're afraid. We think maybe I shouldn't do that or maybe God won't obey. God won't do what I said. If I don't obey him, God won't see me. God won't recognize me. God won't honor my prayer. Answer my prayer. He won't do this. He won't heal me. He won't provide for me. He won't bless me.
And so we we quit. We give up. If you think the journey has completely to do with you, you are sorely mistaken. This journey has little to do with you and everything to do with God. It has everything to. Do with his love and his faithfulness, and he sees you way off and he sees you way out there and he comes running, he comes running, he comes running. That's the thing about God. He runs after you. He chases you down. He never lets leaves it up to you to come to him and grovel and beg and please. And I'll do anything and make promises to God. Aren't we like that? We just decide. I've got to promise you, if you just help me here, I'll do this for you and I'll do this for you. God doesn't want your promises. God has enough of his own promises that He has made to you. He's not waiting for you to make promises to him. This is all about what God has already made, the promises that he already made to you. Comes running. He comes right. He comes running.
Notice the first thing. That most of us fear is rejection. The first thing that most of us fear is rejection, if we come, maybe he'll reject me, maybe he'll rebuke me, maybe he'll remind me of my past. Maybe he'll stick my nose in it. And make me remember how bad I've really been and is that what this father does? Now he comes running. This is God comes runit. To you, and then what does the Bible say? He comes to his son in verse 20. And he falls on his neck. He falls on his neck. He doesn't. Put his hand out. All right, son. It's OK, you can come home sort of a half acceptance. Now he gives total acceptance, puts his arms around him and falls on his neck. This is the same terminology in the Bible that is used when in Acts Chapter two in the Bible says, and the Holy Spirit came and fell on all those who believed he fell on them. He hugged them. He embraced them. He said total acceptance, folks.
And then not only did he fall on his neck, but he kissed him. He kissed him. He kissed him. And you know what? The marginal rendering of this verse or the actual translation of this verse is? And he continued to kiss him. He kissed him over and over and over again. I believe he kissed him at least seven times. Say, why seven? Seven is the number of perfection and perfect love casts out fear. Now, might it have been a hundred times? It could have been could have kissed him one hundred times, but I believe he at least kissed him seven times to represent perfect love, casting out the seven fears that each of us deal with. As you meditate on the love of God, it means total acceptance. The fear of rejection is cast out. The second thing that this kissing, continual kissing means is all is forgiven by continuing to kiss his son.
When his son wants to confess his sins, the father keeps kissing his son out of the son's mouth, wants to come. I'm guilty. I'm wrong. I've failed. I've sin. But out of the father's mouth wants to come. Love and kisses and forgiveness. It's the kiss of forgiveness. It's versus the kiss of acceptance that delivers us from the fear of rejection. Then it's the kiss of forgiveness which delivers us from guilt, the fear of being condemned, the fear of being judged. Every one of us deals with this fear in our lives, the fear of being judged, the fear of being condemned, the fear of being told that our sins will be remembered. But the Bible says when God washes us with the blood of his son, he will never remember our sins again.
This delivers us from the fear of judgment, the fear of condemnation, the third thing that these continual kisses mean is it means your privileges have been restored by kissing his son continually. He's saying you're not a servant, I'm not bringing you. His son wants to come as a servant, but the father only wants him as a son. I'm not inviting you to come back to me as a servant. I don't want you to promise me you're going to serve me. I'm kissing you with love that doesn't require you to serve me in order to get my love. I am giving you unconditional love, which says I accept you. It says I forgive you and it says I restore you everything that has been lost. I restore to you. I restore your sonship. You're my son. I'm not kissing my servants. I'm only kissing my son. I'm not kissing those that work for me. I'm only kissing my son and he kisses his son to save your privileges have been restored.
You from this moment on, are now back in the grace and back in the fellowship and back in the inheritance that is yours. And even though you wasted it all, there's plenty where that comes from. And even though you messed it all up with bad choices, I have more. I am the God of more than enough. I have plenty to restore what the devil has stolen. The years that you've lost, the the time that you've lost, the opportunities you've lost. I restore them all. That's what the kiss of love means. And it drives out the fear. It drives out this fear of of lack, this fear of loss, this fear of losing. I restore your privileges. The fourth thing that this kiss, continual kissing of his son means it's love, folks. It means the blessing the kiss represented the blessing in the Old Testament.
When you kissed one of your children, it was releasing a blessing in their life. It was breathing the blessing into their lives. And God and the father is saying, I bless you, I bless you, I bless you. This delivers us from the fear of lack and the fear of being coerced and the fear of all of our mistakes catching up with us. He says, I bless you, I bless you and bless you. Delivers us from the fear of lack. It delivers us from the fear of being cursed. He continues to kiss his son. And he kisses them again, and what does it mean, it's the kiss of comfort.
What does that do? Why is it comforting to me saying, son, you've come to me and you probably think that you should be depressed and you should feel lonely and you should feel like you're going to be an outcast. But I'm kissing you to comfort you, to cast out the fear of loneliness. I am your companion, I am your father, I am your friend, this is what God is trying to tell us. He's want to kiss you with his love and cast out the fear. What fear the fear? Of being lonely, the fear of being left out, everyone has feared that at one time or another, we have all gone through these fears in our lives, the fear of being rejected, the fear of being judged, the fear of lack, the fear of loss, the fear of being coerced and left out, the fear of being lonely and depressed.
And then he kisses them again and he says this time by kissing you again, I want you to know that you can be reassured that this is real. Sometimes we have this fear that God's goodness isn't going to last. God's been good to me. Something bad is bound to happen. But he kisses them again and he says, Let me kiss you with the kiss of reassurance. I want to reassure you his father kissed him again and again and again. And in the Bible, everything that happens in Scripture happens with meaning behind it.
And this next kiss is the kiss of reassurance I want you to know. I don't want you to ever be afraid that my goodness is going to run out. I don't want you to ever be afraid that this isn't for real. I want you. I don't want you to ever be afraid that something bad is going to happen. I want to reassure you. That I'm not going to turn on you, so I kiss you again. Judas kiss Jesus once, and he turned on him, but this father kisses his son again and again and again to say, I'm never turning on you.
And then. The seventh kiss. What does this mean? Here's what it means, folks. The older brother is not happy. With the blessing that the father is giving to this son, he's wasted all your money. He's he's been operating in loose living, been with loose women, spent all that he had wasted. I don't approve of him. I don't approve of this son of yours. And he calls him the older son, calls his brother to his father. He says this son of yours, he doesn't say my brother. He distances himself from his brother. Many Christians distance you. Sometimes when you're fallen, they've distance you. They distance themselves. Sometimes when you when you're broken. Now, it's one thing to be broken. It's another thing to be broken. But not willing to admit it. You got to admit it. You've got to be willing to be honest when you've done something wrong, come to God, come clean about it. You don't have to cleanse yourself. Just be honest and let him cleanse you. Right.
But this is last kiss, and it could have gone on and on, there's so many more things that this love could have represented. But to me it means the seven thing is this fear of disapproval that even though others won't approve of me, even though my brother doesn't approve of me right now, my father does. He kisses them and he says, I approve of you. And that will cast out the fear of disapproval. We all operate in these fears, the fear of being rejected, the fear of being. Of being judge or condemn the fear of being in loss, the fear of losing things, the fear of being in lack, the fear of lack of fear of not having enough, the fear of things running out, the fear of God's goodness running out, the fear of loneliness and depression.