John Bevere - The Awe of God (How to TRULY Get Close to God)
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We just had a wedding, so finally all four of our sons are married. Quick picture— it happened a couple of months ago. Let’s see if they’re up there. Uh, there they are. For those of you who don’t know, we have four sons, and now we have four daughters-in-law. Can I tell you a quick story about our newest daughter-in-law? Her name’s Maddie. In 2007, I was preaching at the Hillsong conference in Sydney, Australia. There were 22,000 people there. In between the sessions, they called for two Americans to volunteer. My son Alec, at 15 years old, ran up there. They said, «We want you to sing the Star-Spangled Banner in the key of C.»
His face went white. Then, all of a sudden, somebody started singing from behind the curtain in front of the 22,000 people. He started hamming it up, and my wife and I laughed hysterically at our 15-year-old son. A woman from Fiji tapped my wife on the shoulder and said, «That son will marry a daughter of Australia.» Well, we never told him until he told us he would marry Maddie, but Maddie is a daughter of Australia. Her parents are pastors in Australia. Isn’t that amazing? And then, we had a new one since I’ve been with you, and that is Scarlett. Scarlett, I want to show you a picture of her. Look at those eyes; she is looking right through your soul. You better be careful with her. All right, she’s going to be a fun one. And then, Azariah came two months ago, and that’s little Azariah. Finally, I got a boy who looks Italian in this family, all right?
So anyway, that is an Italian boy right there; that’s my family. I deeply love my family, and I will be honest with you, after being in ministry for four decades, I used to be so enamored when somebody had 25,000 people in their church. You know, it truly touches my heart when I see a man of God or a woman of God who has been in the ministry for years, and their children love them and serve God. When I look at this family, the way your two sons passionately serve God and honor you both, I am just so honored to be your friend. Thank you, sir. Amen.
Let’s pray and listen to God tonight. Amen. Let’s believe for Him to speak to us. Father, in the name of Jesus, thank You for this church. Thank You for this renewal service, Lord God. You promised that You would renew us when we seek You with all of our hearts, minds, souls, bodies, and strength. Father, we are doing that; we are laying aside things that are not necessary to come and hear what is necessary. So tonight, Holy Spirit of God, Your presence is welcome in this building; You’re already here. Do what You love to do the most, and that is to glorify and honor Jesus in this place. As You do this, may we go from glory to glory and from strength to strength. For I decree that Your kingdom has come; Your will shall be done here in Panama City, Fort Walton Beach, and on this Earth as it is in heaven. We declare this in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and we give You all the glory, praise, and thanksgiving. And everybody that agrees shouts, «Come on, give Him praise for what He’s going to do tonight! Give Him praise! Thank You, Lord. In Jesus' name, amen.»
Wow, we might have heard Fort Walton on that one. Guys, I want to open up and share something that Pastor Steve asked me to share with you tonight. I’ve just finished a book that’s going to be published on February 21st. I believe it’s a life message, and I’m going to share a little bit of it tonight. When you talk about renew, everybody say renew. I want to go to the scripture in the New Testament that speaks to renew quicker than anything else, and that is James 4:8. James makes this statement, and I want you to look at it carefully; I know you’ve read it before: «Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you.» Let’s say that: «When we draw near to God, He will draw near to you.» Question: who draws first? We do! There’s something that we do—we initiate—that will literally cause the one who placed the stars in the heavens with His fingers and called every one of them by name to come near us. I don’t know about you, but that really excites me! In essence, what James is saying here is that you, not God, are the one who determines the level of your relationship with Him. Let me say it again: you are the one who determines the level of your relationship with God, not God.
In all my traveling for years, I’ve met so many believers who have this deep-seated notion that certain leaders were born with stars over their cribs—people like Billy Graham and Mother Teresa. No, these people are close to God because they chose to be. In fact, let me say this: in my four decades of ministry, some of the people who walk closest to the Lord are never going to be seen behind a pulpit. They’re close because they’ve chosen to be close. When I think about this, I remember James saying in the fifth verse that «the Spirit who dwells in you yearns jealously for us.» What I’ve really come to learn is that He is more passionate about being close to you than you are to Him. I mean, when I think about this, I think about what David says in Psalm 139. I think it’s around the 17th verse: «Lord, if I were to consider the thoughts You have about me personally—this is not about the church collectively, this is me personally—He said that if I could number those thoughts, they would outnumber every grain of sand on this planet.» Now I want you to stop and think about it. Everyone here can really relate to this: every beach, every desert, every golf course.
Now, how many of you know you don’t think about someone you don’t want to be close to? You know, every year I discover stuff that I forgot I had because it’s Christmas time, and I go to the storage unit, and there’s stuff that I literally didn’t think about for an entire year. Oh yeah, that’s right, we do own that! When you’re not interested in something, you don’t think about it very much. Now, scientists tell us that in one cubic foot of beach, depending upon how tightly it’s packed, there are anywhere between 500,000 and a million grains of sand. Now, if I think about the person I’m the closest to—Lisa—and I add up all my thoughts about her in the last 40 years of marriage, which we just celebrated last week by the way, I wouldn’t fill a shoebox. I’m doing better than most husbands! A shoebox full of sand would mean a thought every 12 seconds for 40 years, provided I didn’t go to sleep during those 40 years.
Now, how many of you know fishermen exaggerate? Come on, repent! If that’s you, exaggeration’s a lie. Let’s be honest: how many of you know God can’t lie? If God were ever to exaggerate, He would have to come under the submission of the father of lies, and He’ll never do it. So, when God says, «My thoughts about you outnumber every grain of sand on this planet,» do you know how much He’s thinking about you? That’s why Jesus said your hairs are numbered. He is a God—Moses said to the children of Israel—who is passionate about His relationship with you.
So here’s the deal: here’s God who wants to be so close to us that He passionately desires our fellowship. Why are so many believers distant from Him? This is a question I had to face because the number one request I receive from believers when I travel is, «How do I get closer?» Well, there’s got to be a foundation in our lives for us to be close to God, and without this foundation, it doesn’t matter how much God wants to be close to us or how much we want to be close to Him; it can’t happen without this foundation. This foundation can be found in a couple of scriptures.
First of all, in Leviticus, chapter 10, verse 3, God speaks through Moses and makes a statement: «By those who come near Me, I must be regarded as holy, and before all the people, I must be glorified.» You know, there are «should-bes» in Scripture, and then there are «must-bes.» You’re wise to heed the «should-bes,» but you’re a fool to ignore the «must-bes.» «By those who come near Me, I must be regarded as holy.» How do we do this? Psalm 89, verse 7 says, «God is to be greatly feared in the assembly of the saints and to be held in reverence by all those around Him.»
Look at the second part of this verse: God is to be held in reverence by all those who surround Him. Let me make this statement: you will never find God, His manifest presence, unless He is held with the utmost respect. Let me tell you, when I first learned this back in 1997, it was January of '97. I was asked to go to the nation of Brazil to speak at a national conference. I was so excited because it was my first trip to Brazil. I remember flying down there to the capital city; it was a national conference and people were coming from all over. I landed Friday morning, prayed all afternoon, and that night they drove me to the arena. I remember before we even got to the packed-out parking lot; there were cars parked on the street for blocks away. I remember pulling into that reserved spot. When you got out, you could hear the worship and the crowd from the outside of the building.
In the arenas down there, they have about a six-foot gap between the ceiling and the upper wall to create airflow, and I could hear the worship that was going on inside. I was so excited! Now, back in those days, let me tell you something—they did something I was so glad they stopped doing: they sat us ministers on the platform. Okay, so they ushered me in and put me right on the platform. That’s just so weird when you’re worshiping God in front of everybody, right? I’m like, let me sit in the front row! Anyway, so I remember being on the platform, excited; first time in Brazil, the place is jam-packed, and the presence of God is nowhere!
Now, I’m talking about the manifest presence of God, not His omnipresence. I closed my eyes and I said, «God, where’s Your presence?» When I opened my eyes, it was like I started seeing people. I saw people during worship standing there like this—looking around with their arms crossed, others had their hands in their pockets looking down. There were people talking to one another; some people were walking down the stairs of the arena and going out to the concession stands to get something to drink. I’m like, this has got to stop!
I went through the whole worship, and then one of the leaders of this massive church network down there came up and began reading from the scripture. Now, because there was no music, you could hear the little mutter of people whispering to each other, talking to each other. I’m like, what is going on? Now I’m getting quite upset, and I hear the Holy Spirit say, «Address this!» So they introduced me, and I remember walking up and putting my right elbow on the podium. My translator is right next to me. I’m sitting there going, how do I get these people’s attention?
I remember just going up and standing there, staring at them. I wasn’t saying a word. Now when you’re the Friday night speaker at a national conference in Brazil, and you’ve been introduced, standing there staring at the people will get their attention! So after about 50 seconds, the whole place goes quiet, and every eye is on me. When I knew every eye was on me—these are the first words I ever spoke in the nation of Brazil: I did not say, «Hi, it’s nice to be here! Here’s my family! Let me show you a picture.» I didn’t do any of that. These were the first words that came out of my mouth: I have two questions.
Question one: You’re talking to somebody sitting across the table, and the whole time you’re talking to them, they’ve got their hands in their pockets, looking around. They’ve got their arms crossed, looking down, or they’re whispering to somebody beside them. Would you continue to talk to them? They said nothing. So I answered it: «No! Because I’m a little angry right now.» What if every time you go to your neighbor’s house and you knock on the door, and when they open the door, they go, «Oh, it’s you again,» and they turn around, walking into the house? «Would you continue to go?» No! So I said, «I’ve been in this auditorium, this arena for over an hour and a half, and there’s not an ounce of the presence of God in this place.»
Why? Because God will never come into a place where He’s not held in the utmost respect. I said, «If the president of your nation had walked on this platform tonight, you would have given him ten times the respect you gave the Holy Spirit. If Pelé, your greatest soccer player in the history of Brazil, would have walked on this platform tonight, you would have been on the edge of your seats, anticipating every word.» I said, «You’ve given no respect to the Spirit of God.»
For the next 75 minutes, I preached on the fear of the Lord. After 75 minutes, I said, «Alright, you’re in here; you say you’re born again; this is a believers' conference,» so you know they all said they were Christians. I said, «You say you’re born again, but you lack the fear of God, and you’re willing to repent—stand up!» Three-fourths of the arena stood up, and as soon as they stood up, the presence of God filled the arena, and people started crying. I’m like, «God, we didn’t even pray!»
I remember later Him showing me that the father ran to the prodigal son before the prodigal son said any prayer of repentance. So the presence of God filled the place; it was just wonderful. People were weeping, and I’m finally like, «Finally!» Right? It was so wonderful. In the last three minutes, the Holy Spirit said, «Lead them in a prayer of repentance.» So I led them in a prayer of repentance. After the prayer of repentance, another wave comes of this presence, and it’s even stronger. Now it’s just beautiful; it’s just so amazing. I hear sobbing all over the arena for the last three or four minutes. It lifts, and the Lord said, «Son, I’m coming one more time.»
Now, there’s no way I can ever do this justice, but I want you to imagine standing in a forest, and about a 25-mile-an-hour wind starts blowing through that forest. That kind of a violent whistling wind came blowing into that arena. When it did, the people started screaming. Now, can you imagine thousands of Latinos screaming? How loud that is? Yet the wind was louder. I remember I was standing there right beside this pulpit, and I was petrified—in a good way. I mean, look, I know it sounds weird, but there were like goosebumps on top of my goosebumps!
There was such authority that came into that arena; it was like Daddy didn’t come in; the King came in. I remember I was standing there and all that was coming out of my mouth was, «Oh my God! Oh my God!» And I remember the thought went through my mind: «John Bevere, if you say one wrong word or make one wrong move, you’re dead!» Now would that have happened? I don’t know; it did with a couple in the New Testament when they brought an offering and were more concerned about how people perceived them as giving sacrificially, and they fell over dead in that kind of atmosphere.
Because Peter walks out of that atmosphere, and walks down the streets of Jerusalem, and everybody sick gets up—that kind of authority was in that room! He’s not only Daddy; He’s called the consuming fire. Not only Daddy; He’s called the King! He came in, and I was standing there. I had never encountered anything like this in my life, and I was sitting there going, «Oh my God! Oh my God!» This wind blew for 90 seconds, gradually subsiding. It left in its wake people collapsing over the seats in front of them, people weeping. I’m standing there, and I’m like, «God, what do I do? What do I do?» and the Lord’s like, «I’m through with you.»
So I looked at the leader; I said, «It’s all yours.» They whisked me out to the car and put me in the car. Then they put the national solo singer that night—a very well-known soloist in Brazil and her husband—into the car. She gets in and goes, «Did you hear the wind? Did you hear the wind?» I said, «Maybe it was a jet aircraft that flew over the building,» right? Oh my gosh, did she get mad at me! «What are you talking about? It was all around the building!» I was like, «Oh yeah, yeah.» These Brazilians are passionate!
So her husband quiets her down, because he’s a little calmer. He goes, «Sir, that was an airplane.» I said, «How do you know?» He said, «Because there were security men and policemen all around the outside; they’re union men, most of them aren’t even saved. They were around the outside of the building when the wind started blowing. They came running in and said to our leaders, 'What in the world is going on? '» He said, «Secondly, I was at the main soundboard because I’m making sure my wife’s volume is right for her singing.» He said, «John, the decibel meters were at zero the whole time the wind blew.»
He said, «Not one ounce of that sound came through our sound system to my God!» Take me to my hotel room! I remember just sitting on my balcony until 1:30 in the morning, worshiping. See, you want to see New Testament on this? The book of Hebrews says, «Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom which cannot be shaken, let us have grace by which we may serve God acceptably.» How do we serve God acceptably? «With reverence and godly fear, for our God is a consuming fire.»
I’ll never forget Saturday morning when I walked into that building. The miracles that happened, the salvations that occurred, were mind-blowing—all because of one thing: presence—all because of holy fear. We had reports on this for as many as 23 years. Twenty-two years later, in 2016, I go down to speak in Goiânia, Brazil, to 12,000 pastors and leaders. I get out of the car, and the first pastor I meet says, «I was in the building 20 years ago when the wind blew, and my life has never been the same since.»
When that kind of presence comes, you change. There’s no other way of saying it. I was in the nation of Malaysia two years later, similar situation. You say, «John, does this happen a lot?» I wish I could say yes, but basically in my 40 years, about a handful of times has the same thing occurred. It was a national meeting, and I remember that presence came in. I remember, again, I was thinking, «Bevere, don’t do one thing; don’t do one thing irreverent or you’re dead.» I was thinking that, and I remember walking back and forth going, «Oh my God! Oh my God!»
The same thing happened again, and out of my mouth came this: «This is the spirit of the fear of the Lord.» My head all of a sudden clicked, and I went, «Oh my gosh, that’s right! That’s one of the seven manifestations of the Holy Spirit.» See, Isaiah prophesied about Jesus. He said, «Look at this: the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon Jesus, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of understanding, the spirit of counsel, the spirit of might, the spirit of knowledge, and the spirit of the fear of the Lord.»
Now look at this: «His delight.» Are you seeing this? «His delight was in the fear of the Lord.» Shouldn’t Jesus’s delight be our delight? Let me try that again: shouldn’t His delight be our delight? You know, Jim talked about last night Elijah. Let me put a PS on Jim’s message last night because it was profound. I shared with my whole staff on Zoom today—all 50 of them—they got so fired up when I preached Jim’s message! I’m not kidding; they got so fired up! I was so in awe last night; it was like father in the church stood up and gave orders. It was so beautiful!
Where was I going with this? Oh yeah! This is a PS on Jim’s message. Have you ever read in Hebrews, «In the days of His flesh, He had vehement cries and tears for the One who could save Him.» And what does the Bible say about Jesus? «And He was heard because of His godly fear.» It’s one thing to pray; it’s another thing to be heard. It’s one thing to draw near; it’s another thing for Him to draw near. Still with me?
I remember I was walking out of this Malaysia auditorium, and the pastor was so wise; I was so related and said, «Oh, let’s do a song.» He got up at the end of that one, because that one lasted about 10 minutes, and he said, «Y’all, there’s such a heavy presence of God here; just leave whenever you want. We’re done as far as the service goes, but God’s not.»
I remember after a while thinking, «Okay, I can leave,» and I’m walking out, and there was this—in Malaysia, it was the largest Bible school—there were pastors from all over the nation that had come. I remember this Indian couple; they were in the Bible school. I’m walking out, and we’re just looking at each other, and we have nothing to say because when you’re in that atmosphere, you’re like, «Don’t say something stupid.» So I’m just looking at them; they’re looking at me, and then she opens her mouth and says, «I feel so clean!»
I went, «That’s it! That’s it!» Now I didn’t respond like that; inside, I was like, «That’s it! That’s it!» That’s what I felt in Brazil. That’s what I felt in North Carolina; that’s what I feel here. So I go back to my hotel. The next morning, I was getting ready to play basketball with the guys in Malaysia, right? I was putting my gym shorts on, and the Holy Spirit spoke to me and said, «Son, read Psalm 19.» I was like, «Okay! I don’t know what I’m going to read, but I just know to do it.»
So I go over, get my Bible, and with my gym gear ready to go play basketball. But I’m going to do this right. I start reading: verse 1, verse 2, verse 3… I guess at verse 9, look what I read: «The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever.» The Holy Spirit spoke to me in that room; He said, «Son, Lucifer led worship right before My Throne, beheld My glory, was anointed to do so.» It was good worship tonight, but can you imagine being anointed in a building that seats over a billion beings, and you’re the worship leader standing in front of the glory of God?
God said, «He led worship right before the presence of My glory. He didn’t fear Me; he didn’t endure forever. Son, a third of My angels surrounded My throne. They beheld My glory. They didn’t fear Me; they didn’t endure forever. Son, Adam and Eve walked in the garden in the presence of My glory; they didn’t fear Me; they didn’t endure forever. Son, every created being that surrounds My throne throughout eternity will have been tested in the holy fear of God!»
Then I started thinking this, and I don’t know if it was the Holy Spirit to me: how many pastors started the ministry so excited, so in love with Jesus, that they didn’t endure forever? Paul the Apostle makes this statement in 2 Thessalonians 2:3: «This one’s really bugging me, folks: The day of Jesus’s return will not come except the apostasy comes first.» Unless the predicted great falling away of those who have professed to be Christians has come—why? Why did he study that between 2000 and 2020? One of his biggest studies he’s done, he studied for 20 years, and you know what he discovered? Over 20 million American practicing Christians in that 20 years are now non-Christians, many of them professing to be agnostics and atheists! Twenty million—that’s more than 5 percent of America’s population.
That means one out of every 20 people between 2000 and 2020 walked away from the faith. Paul said it had to happen. Why is it happening? Because of the lack of holy fear. Paul the Apostle makes this statement in Philippians, chapter 2, verses 12 and 13: «Work out your salvation with fear and trembling,» not loving kindness. I’ll never forget 1994; I didn’t really understand the fear of the Lord. I was starting to study it. I thought, «You know what? This occurs too much in the Bible to ignore. It’s in the New Testament all over the place.»
And my assistant gets a call in 1994. Jim Bakker, who at that time was probably one of the most famous men on the planet for the wrong reasons—he was on CNN; he committed mail fraud; he had the largest ministry in the world, and he was sentenced to 45 years, which was reduced to five years. In the fourth year of his sentence, he called his assistant; he read the first book I wrote called Victory in the Wilderness. He said to his assistant, «Can you call this man and see if he’ll come visit me?» I said, «Sure, I’ll go visit him.»
I remember I was in the penitentiary; Jim comes in; he’s got his prison garb on. He looks at me and grabs my shoulder and says, «Young man, did you write this book?» I said, «Yes, sir, I did.» He said, «Not a ghostwriter?» I said, «No, not a ghostwriter.» He said, «We have so much to talk about, and we only have 90 minutes.» He sits down; he looks at me, and you know what the first thing he says to me is? «John, this prison wasn’t God’s judgment on my life; it was His mercy.» I went, «What???»
He said, «John, if I would have kept living the way I was living, I would have ended up in hell forever and ever! I’m so grateful to God…» He told me how he was delivered in the first year. He told me how they had a church in the prison and that they go through the Gospel of Jesus. They go the sentence of Jesus, then they go five words, three words, one word, three words, five words. I’m just going through this whole thing like, «Well, you’re late on this church in the prison, right?»
He goes, «Oh no, I’m a master manipulator. I’m not touching it; somebody else is leading it. John, if I ever go back to living the way I was living, I’m done forever!» I mean, I’m sitting there going, «Whoa!» So 20 minutes into it, I look at Jim, and I say, «Jim, when did you fall out of love with Jesus? At what point did you fall out of love with Jesus?» He looked at me and said, «I didn’t.» He was so serious when he said this. He said, «I didn’t.»
I said, «Not now! I’m mad because I don’t know this man; I just met him for the first time that day. Now I’m mad at him, again! Because I was…» Well, anyway, and now he’s like, «I love this man so much!» I said, «Jim, you committed adultery with Jessica Hahn in 1983; you were arrested and prosecuted in 1990. You’re telling me those seven years you didn’t love Jesus?» He said, «I loved Him all the way through it, John.»
And he fused it right in my face and looks at me and says, «I didn’t fear God!» What he said was, «I love Jesus; I didn’t fear God!» He said, «There are millions of American Christians just like me; they love Jesus; they don’t fear God.» So what is the fear of the Lord? What is it? First of all, it is not to be scared of God. How can you have a relationship of intimacy with somebody you’re scared of? You know when Moses delivers Israel out of Egypt? Where does he bring them? Not to the promised land; he brings them to the place where he met with God, where the bush was. It’s called Sinai.
Remember, he said to Pharaoh like five times, «Thus saith the Lord: Let My people go that they may worship Me in the desert.» Why does he want to bring them to the promised land before he first brings them to the Promiser? When he brings them to that mountain, he has a private meeting with God, and God says to Moses in Exodus 19:2-3, «Hey Moses, you just go down and tell all those people the whole reason I delivered them from Egypt was to bring them to Myself. I can’t wait; they’re My kids!»
So three days later, God comes down on the mountain. What does that do? They scream and run away because they’ve got too much of the world in them, and they scream and run away. They say, «Moses, Moses, you talk with God; tell us whatever He says! We’ll do it!» We can’t handle Him! Moses makes this statement to them in Exodus 20:20 that I believe is a 20/20 vision: look what Moses said. He said, «Do not fear, for God has come to test you.»
What’s the test? To see if His fear is in you. He’s talking about both sides of His mouth; he’s contradicting himself. No, he’s not! He is differentiating between being scared of God and the fear of the Lord. There’s a difference! The person who is scared of God has something to hide. What does Adam do? As soon as he disobeys God, he hides from the presence of the Lord. The person who fears God has nothing to hide; he or she is terrified of being away from God.
So if you want your first definition of the fear of the Lord, you ready? Write it down: it is not being scared; it is being terrified of being away from God! Good preaching! I’ll help some of you right now—that was a really good place to say amen! It’s being terrified of being away from Him! Still with me? So when you fear God, you venerate Him. I know that’s a big word, but let me break it down: to honor, to respect, to esteem, to value, to reverence, and to stand in awe of Him more than anything or anyone else. When you do, you firmly embrace God’s heart, and that means we love what He loves and we hate what He hates.
Notice it doesn’t say we dislike what He hates. Now let’s just get rid of the religious spirit. Okay? Yeah, man, I fear God; that’s why I hate those sinners over there! You don’t fear God at all because you hate what He loves! He loves them enough to die for them! Don’t tell me you fear God; don’t insult the fear of the Lord like that! You hate what He hates. You know what God hates? He hates the sin that undoes them and makes them lost!
Still with me? You know, back in the 1990s, I was praying two hours every single morning—not kidding. Then I came home and read my Bible. I’d go outside to a deserted place, a construction place, and I’d pray from five to seven every morning. You know what? When I preached my words, I was so fed up! I was like, «God, I spent so much time in prayer; where’s the power? Where’s the anointing?» The Holy Spirit spoke to me. I’ll never forget—I was frustrated, saying, «Why isn’t there strong anointing on my life?» He said to me, «Because you tolerate sin—not only in your life but in the lives of others.»
He said, «Read Hebrews 1.» You know Hebrews 1 is where God the Father inaugurates Jesus as King of the universe. Look what He says. Look what He says to Jesus: «Because you have loved righteousness!» Stop right there! Every Christian in America loves righteousness! That’s what Jim Bakker was saying. «Because you have loved righteousness,» but He didn’t stop there. «And hated lawlessness!» Therefore God, even your God, has anointed you more than your companions. The Holy Spirit said to me, «Learn to hate sin the way I hate sin; you’ll see the anointing increase upon your life!»
Why don’t our prayers have power? Why don’t we preach with power? Why don’t we walk in power? Because we tolerate sin! We’ve allowed society—the fear of man—to overcome us! It sure is quiet right now! So what is the manifestation? Do you understand what I’m saying by the manifestation? Does everybody understand? Okay, I’ll see; right? I’m talking to you, Panama City and you, Fort Walton Beach. In other words, if I take a knife and I put it in a wall socket over there, and you’re not doing my funeral three days from now, that means there is no power in that outlet!
But if you’re doing my funeral, that means there is power in the outlet! So what is the evidence of somebody who truly fears God? Five areas: Number one, they obey God instantly. Oh! Number two, they obey Him even when it doesn’t make sense. God ever tell you to do something that didn’t make sense? Number three, they obey Him even if it hurts. Number four, they obey Him even if they don’t see a benefit. Number five, they obey Him to completion! It comes down to obedience, which is the manifestation of someone who fears God.
Now I’m going to show you my favorite scripture and try to wrap it up here in the next 15 minutes: Psalm 25, verse 14. One of my favorite scriptures in the Bible: «The secret of the Lord is with those who fear Him, and He’ll show them His covenant.» Everybody say «the secret.» That word actually means «secrets.» The secrets of the Lord are with those who fear Him! How many of you have the secrets? Let me see a show of hands! Put up your hands really high! Alright, do I pray for the rest of you for lying now or later?
Sir, how many of you know all secrets are not bad? Now, how many of you have secrets? Everybody’s going to raise their hand. Okay, who do you share your secrets with? Acquaintances or intimate close friends? Intimate close friends! God’s no different! God says, «I share My secrets with My intimate close friends, and by the way, My intimate close friends are those who fear Me!»
Now I’m going to show you I’m not taking this verse out of context. Look at it in the New Living Translation: «Friendship with the Lord is reserved for those who fear Him; with them, He shares the secrets.» God is not everybody’s friend! Get a little more specific! Good church! Now, there are two men who are called the friends of God in the Old Testament. Were there others? Oh, you better believe it! David’s a friend of God; Esther’s a friend of God. You know, I could go on and on: Joseph, Daniel! But these two men’s lives exemplify what it takes to have a relationship of friendship with the Lord.
Who’s the first one? Who’s the first one? Abraham! Right? Why is Abraham called the friend of God? Because when Abraham was old, God came to him one night and said, «Abe?» Yes, Lord? «Yes, Yes.» Abe, you know your son, who you waited for 25 years, that I gave to you, the one you love more than anything or anyone else? «I want you to go on a three-day journey to kill him for Me.» Foreign?
Okay, we read this story. We know what happens. He didn’t! Can you imagine the sleepless night? But do you know what the Bible says? Early the next morning, Abraham was on his way! You have people say, «You know, the Lord has been dealing with me about this now for three months!» Ha-ha! Oh my gosh, you’re bragging about your lack of holy fear! You come on—come on now! God gives them a three-day journey; why? It’s easier when you heard the booming voice of God the night before. But we’re about two and a half days later when you haven’t heard one word from Heaven, and you look at the mountain you’re supposed to put the most important person or thing to death in your life just because God said do it, and didn’t give you a reason!
Abraham goes up there. Can you imagine the emotions? He is building this altar; he is hoping for some kind of sign to get out of this! He ties up Isaac, who he loves so much. He lifts up the knife; he’s ready to put the most important person or thing to death in his life just because God said to do it! Right when he’s ready to run it through Isaac, an angel appears and says, «Abraham, stop! Because now I know you fear God!»
Oh! Whoa! Whoa! Whoa! How does the angel know he fears God? Because he obeyed God instantly! Because he obeyed God when it didn’t make sense! Because he obeyed God when it hurt! Because he obeyed God when he didn’t see a benefit! And because he obeyed God to completion! Abraham puts down the knife, unties Isaac, and lifts his eyes—there’s a ram! Out of his spirit comes Jehovah Jireh, the Lord who sees!
Do you understand? God just revealed a facet of His personality to Abraham that nobody had ever known before! Because he’s My friend! Okay, you’re not getting this! All of you know me as John Bevere, preacher. Some of you know me as John Bevere, author. But there is a lady—whoa! She’s a lady! She knows me as John Bevere, best friend. She knows me as John Bevere, husband. She knows me as John Bevere, father. John Bevere, G-Daddy! She knows me as John Bevere, athlete. She knows me as John Bevere, lover.
Now can I say this? None of you will ever know me as John Bevere, lover! That is a facet of my personality reserved for the person who is closest to me on this earth! Amen? God just revealed a facet of His personality to Abraham that nobody had ever known before! Because he’s My friend!
Now look at the relationship between God and Abraham; it’s amazing! One day, the Lord says, «Should we do what we’re planning on doing to Sodom and Gomorrah without first talking to our friend Abraham?» So the Lord comes down, terrible trees! They have a meal! The angels go off! Abraham and God walk over the cliff and God looks at Abe and goes, «Hey, we’re thinking about blowing up these two cities; what do you think, Abe?»
Abraham goes, «Think! Think! My nephew’s over there! My nephew’s over there!» Oh my gosh, think, think, think! Okay God, you wouldn’t blow up the cities if there were 50 righteous people, would you? You wouldn’t judge the righteous with the unrighteous, would you? And the Lord goes, «Excellent idea! Excellent idea! Okay, we will not blow up the cities if there are 50 righteous people. Glad we talked to our friend Abraham!» Abraham goes, «Wait a minute! Losing 50! Okay, God, wait a minute! Whoa! Whoa! Five!» The Lord goes, «Another good idea! Okay, we will not blow up the city since there’s 45. Glad we talked to our friend Abraham.»
Abraham goes, «40! 30! 20! 10!» He figures there’s gotta be ten: Lot’s one—all I need is nine others! There’s not even ten! Now listen to what the Bible’s saying—listen! The people of Sodom are buying, selling, marrying, giving in marriage, planting, harvesting. What is that in today’s vernacular? The economy is good! Life is good! And if there is a God, He doesn’t mind this lifestyle! They’re 24 hours away from being obliterated, and they’re clueless!
What’s scary? Can I show you what’s scary? Lot! Everybody say Lot! Who the Bible calls righteous! Okay, I’ll put it in today’s terms: II Peter, chapter one—he’s called righteous! Okay, saved, born again! He’s 24 hours away from being obliterated, and he’s as clueless as Sodom and Gomorrah! It takes two angels of mercy, two messengers of mercy, because Abraham prayed (thank God Abraham prayed) to get him out!
So here’s two righteous men, two saved men, two born-again men: one righteous, saved, born-again man knows what God’s going to do before He does it—helps God decide how He’s going to do it—the other righteous, saved, born-again man is as clueless as the world. Why? Because this righteous, saved, born-again man fears God; therefore, God shares His secrets with him! This righteous, saved, born-again man does not fear God; he only knows God by how He answers his prayers!
See, if you look at Moses, he’s the other one. God said, «I trust Moses; he’s My friend! I speak to him face to face like a man speaks to his friend!» The Bible says that Israel knew his acts; Moses knew his ways. What does it mean? Israel knew God by His acts. Israel knew God by how God—excuse me—Israel knew God by how He answered their prayers. On the other hand, Moses knew many times what God was going to do before He did it, and he did it—and even helped God decide how to do it!
And twice he changes God’s mind! The Bible says the Lord relented because of what Moses said to Him. So here are two righteous groups of people. Remember, coming out of Egypt is a type of being saved. They ate the same spiritual food; they drank the same spiritual rock, and that rock was Christ! One righteous man knows what God’s going to do before He does it, and helps God decide how He’s going to do it—often! And he even changes God’s mind! The other group only knows God by how He answers their prayers!
You know how many people I meet in relation to God are limited—well, you know, we prayed once and God healed our daughter. Okay, and He’s okay with this and this and this and this, and you’re going, «What God are you talking about? What Jesus are you talking about?» See, Paul said to the Corinthian church, «You put up with what anybody tells you, even if they preach a different Jesus.» He didn’t say a different God—a different Jesus! Jesus is invisible! We can make up our Jesus however we want!
And my Jesus is okay with me sleeping with my girlfriend! It’s not the Jesus at the right hand! You made up a Jesus you have no fear of God! But I love God! How can you love someone you don’t know? You’re like the fan of Michael Jordan—when you meet him on the street, he’s not even going to acknowledge you! «I don’t know who you are!» You know, there’s a multitude of people going to say, «Jesus, You’re My Lord!» «I don’t know you! Who are you? Depart from me!»
You want to see it in the New Testament? I’ll close. You want to see it in the New Testament? Jesus is with the eleven; Judas is already gone. Look what He says to the eleven: «No longer do I call you servants!» Whoa! Whoa! Stop right there! The fact that He says that means at one time they were looked at and merely regarded as servants! That is not a revelation; that’s an English lesson! Now why does God do that? Why does God keep us, even though we’re heirs, at a level of a servant? To protect us!
Because He loves us so much! He doesn’t want what happened to Ananias and Sapphira to happen to us! Okay, I’m going to give you an example; it’s weak but it works. Lisa and I worked for two very large ministries—one with 150 paid employees, the other with 450. When we were launched to start Messenger International in 1990, we said we are going to have a new style of leadership. We’re going to be everybody’s best buddy!
Some of you already know the stupidity! So the first guy we hire, his name is John Best Buddy. We’re playing basketball; we’re watching videos; he’s hanging out at our house like every other night! Best buddy! He was really good for the first year until I had to bring some minor correction to him. I remember sitting him down; I said, «John, look, when you’re at our resource table, and people come up, you’ve got this look on your face like 'Bug off! '» These are God’s sheep; you need to be kind; you have a smile on your face!»
He looks across the desk and goes, «You’re this and you’re that and you’re this!» and starts railing on me! I’m like, «Whoa!» I said, «God, what do I do?» The Holy Spirit said, «Fire him!» So I let him vent completely; I let him vent completely! I said, «John, I’ve got to release you; I’m sorry, you can’t work for us anymore.» So he storms out; he’s mad! I start crying because I really cared about the guy! God speaks to me and says, «He’ll be back, and he’ll be twice as faithful.»
Three months later, I get a call! Haven’t heard from him in three months. He said, «John, God’s spoken to me like He’s never spoken to me in my life.» He said, «I took you and Lisa for granted. I lost sight of the place God had put you in my life. I lost sight of the place God put me in your life. I’m so sorry! Will you forgive me?» I said, «Yeah!» We talked a few more minutes; I said, «Will you come work for us again?» He said, «Yeah, I’d love to!» He came back, and we never had problems in that area again!
Now today, we’ve got 50 employees here in the United States, and then we’ve got a thousand team members around the world. I have a new policy: I will not open up and share the intimate details of my life with any of my employees until I know they’re very established in who I am in their life, and I’m very established in who they are in my life! Some of my employees are my best friends, but I won’t bring them in like that until I know they’re very established!
Because I almost destroyed that young man! Now, why does God do this with us? Because the Bible says, «As long as the heir is a child, he differs nothing from the servant.» Galatians 4:1. Why does God do this? Because God says, «Until you are very established in who I am and very established in who you are before Me,» the fear of the Lord—"I’ve got to keep you at a servant level, because I don’t want what happened to Ananias and Sapphira to happen to you.»
But when you are established in the holy fear of God, then I can bring you in as one of My intimate close friends! Look what Jesus says in our close: «No longer do I call you servants, for a servant doesn’t know what his master is doing!» The Master’s ways, the secret, is wisdom! «But I have called you friends!»
Now look, He makes a statement to the entire church: look at verse 14: «You are My friends,» stop right there! We sing songs about it; we preach sermons about it, but we never finish the statement! If is a condition! If I say to you, «I will pay you $2,000 if you work for me 40 hours,» and you don’t work the 40 hours, and then you say, «Where’s the money?» I say, «Hey Matt, I said if you worked the 40 hours!»
You didn’t fulfill the condition! Friendship with Jesus is conditional—not salvation! It’s a gift! Salvation is a gift! We are talking about intimate friendship! Jesus said, «You are My friends if…» What’s the condition? «If you do whatever I command you.» There it is! The fear of the Lord: trembling at His word!
Well, I just think the Bible was written 2,000 years ago, and they didn’t understand that 90 percent of people who get married live together! You have no fear of God! You have none! And you’re not doing what He’s commanding you because you put conditions on; you put what society has said on that condition! So don’t even tell me He’s your Lord! Because Jesus said, «Why do you call Me Lord yet you don’t do what I say?»
Alright, you know what Jesus is saying here? Not everybody in the church is My intimate close friend! But now listen, listen! I want you all to look at me because I want to end on high. He definitely wants to be everyone’s intimate close friend! But whoa, whoa, whoa! You’re the one that determines the level of your relationship with God! Not God! therefore, draw near to God, and He will draw near to you! Amen? Amen!
I want every head bowed, every eye closed. Father, in Jesus' name, and I’m speaking to Fort Walton; I’m speaking to Panama City Beach; I want you to close your eyes. I want you to bow your head. I want you this to be you and God. Your spouse may be sitting next to you; just right now, just—just don’t even hold hands—right now, just you go right there with Jesus! You can never, ever experience a relationship with your creator—an authentic relationship—without the holy fear of God.
Let me show you where it first shows up: it’s called salvation! Paul said, «To you Jews and to everyone who fears God, this message of salvation has come!» I think one of the things that has kept people from coming into an intimate relationship with Jesus is the way we do altar calls. We just say, «You want to become a child of God, just pray this prayer: Jesus, come into my life!»
Now, the Apostle Paul made a statement. He said, «A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife; the two shall be one.» He said, «But this is an illustration of the way the church and Jesus are one.» Jesus is called the groom; we’re called the bride. Hey, when a girl gets married on the day she marries, she walks down that church with a white dress on; she’s making a pretty bold statement! She’s saying goodbye to about 3.9 billion guys. She’s saying, this is the one and only man I’m giving my entire heart to! The only way you can enter into an authentic relationship is when you give Him everything.
He is not coming back for a bride that has given herself half-heartedly to Him! He’s coming back for a bride that has given herself to Him the way He gave Himself to her! And when I think about it—my Creator—coming to this earth knowing He’s going to be shamed and dishonored, spit on, beat, punched in the face, having His beard plucked out, thorns jammed into a skull—My Creator who created everything knows this is going to happen! He knows He’s going to get His flesh ripped off of His back by the whip with broken bones and metal objects!
He knows He’s going to get nails driven right into His hands and feet, did it because He loved you! That’s how much He loved you! Your Creator, innocent, is not coming back for a bride that’s sleeping with the world! I don’t want you to be deceived! I don’t want you to be one of the multitudes that call Him Lord, and He’s going to say, «I don’t know who you are! Who are you?» Some of you are sitting here in all of these campuses—all three! And you know, you know, you know right now because the Holy Spirit is being gracious to you!
Because listen! A lot of people prayed for you! But tonight you know you haven’t given your entire heart and life to Him! You know it! Have you done what that bride does on that wedding day? Broken up with every boyfriend and made a decision I’m not entering into anything else! It means you break up with everything Jesus died for! And you make no allowance to enter back into relationship with it!
And you’re sitting there, and you say, «I know I haven’t given Him my entire heart, and I want to do it right now! I want to do it right now!» John, if that’s you, I want you to stand up right where you’re sitting! Stand up right now—right, right now! Just stand up quickly! No bride’s ever been ashamed of her groom! All over this auditorium, there are probably 80 people standing to their feet. Just keep standing! If that’s you in Fort Walton Beach or Panama City Beach, just stand on your feet!
Yes, ma’am, you’re worth the wait! Thank you! Yes, ma’am, thank you! Anyone else? I want to make sure there’s nobody missing! Yes, sir, thank you! You are well worth the wait, sir! Anyone else? I want to make sure nobody’s missed! Anyone else?
Now if you’re sitting down and you’d say, «John, I have given Jesus my life, but I’m not walking in the fear of the Lord. I can see how that’s bled into my life and I want this holy fear, what Jesus delighted in; I want it in my life.» If that’s you, you say, «I’ve not been walking in the fear of the Lord, and I want that in my life,» I want you to stand up with these people right now—immediately stand up quickly! Talk about renewal! Talk about renewal!
So proud to be called a member of this church! I know it’s probably the same in Panama City Beach; probably looking at 95 percent of you standing up here! It’s probably the same in Fort Walton! I want you to just lift your hands up right there! I’m not going to call you forward; there are just too many! Slip your hands up! I want you to forget about the person beside you! I want you to close your physical eyes, and I want you to open the eyes of your heart, and I want you to look at Him!
I’m going to ask the Holy Spirit to give you a glimpse! The Spirit of God, I’m asking You, sir, please show them Jesus! Please show us Jesus! Just open the eyes of your heart! Do you see His eyes? Do you see His face? I’m going to tell you what I see: I see a massive smile— a joyful smile! I see eyes that are delighted, so filled with love and so focused! See His eyes; His arms are outstretched!
Thank you for Your presence; He’s here! Holy Spirit, thank You! That’s His presence right there! Master, sir, we honor You; we honor You! There’s His presence! Say this with me: say, «Speak to the one you’re looking at!» Dear Lord, I love You so much! Say it out loud: I love You so much! Forgive me for living a life my way—for only obeying You when it was convenient, when it didn’t interfere with my schedule, my pleasure, my agenda. So sorry! I repent tonight, and I turn to You!
I give you my spirit, my soul, and my body—everything I am, everything I have—I’m Yours forever! Jesus, You are my Lord, my King, my beloved, my groom! I’m Yours forever! I want to be Your friend; I want to know Your heart; I want to know Your secrets! Give me the grace—the holy fear—to walk in obedience!
Now lift your hands up high; I want to pray that God the Father will baptize you in the Holy Spirit of the fear of the Lord! I want you to just receive! Heavenly Father, no, no, you just can receive now! Heavenly Father—foreign! You give Your spirit to Your children! These are Your children, Your beloved! They love You deeply! Give us the gift, the treasure of holy fear! Baptize us with the Holy Spirit of the fear of the Lord! Fill us to where we overflow, to where it’s a fountain of wisdom—a fountain of insight!