The Freedom of Delighting in God (Fear of Man 4)

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Big Idea: As we rejoice in God’s love and grace, we will need others less, being free to love others more, and will find freedom from the fear of man.

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Big Idea: As we rejoice in God’s love and grace, we will need others less, being free to love others more, and will find freedom from the fear of man.
Rejoice in God’s love and grace
Hosea’s Love Story
Need other less; love others more
Our enemies
Our neighbors
Our brothers

Hook

We have said that love is not our greatest need.
We have said that we should never use love, from God or others, for selfish ends merely to make ourselves feel better.
However, the love of God for us IS something we should enjoy, delight in, and take comfort and refuge in.
NOT to make much of us and feel good about ourselves, but to make much of God and HIS worth.
Love may not be our greatest need; We may well selfishly abuse both God’s love and others in order to bolster our own wrong view of self…AND YET, the love of God, when we understand and view it in proper perspective is a tool for overcoming the fear of man as we come to delight in, take refuge in, and bask in the glory of God’s love for us FOR HIS OWN SAKE.
As we seek to over come the fear of man in our lives, we must come to rejoice in God’s love and grace.

Book

Rejoice in God’s love and grace

As God pours out his love and grace in our lives, he is pouring out HIMSELF to us.
ONLY WHEN we stop trying to use God to fill our psychological cup of neediness can we truly appreciate and delight in God for who HE is.
As long as we keep trying to use God to delight in ourselves, we will never be free to delight in Him and we will remain enslaved to the fear of man.
We DO need the love of God. We will never be full and satisfied without.
To demonstrate how glorious his love is, lets look at the book of Hosea in the OT.
Next to the gospel, this is the greatest story displaying the love of God we can consider in the scriptural text.
It is, in fact, an OT rendering of the gospel.

Hosea’s Love Story

What do you know about the story of Hosea?
Hosea
I know this will take a bit to walk through, but I believe we should and must.
Hosea served during a very tumultuous time in the nations of Israel and Judah.
He served during the latter end of the 8th century - approximately 750-715BC.
Neo-Assyrian King Tiglath-pilesar rose to power. He and those kings following him extended Assyrian dominance in the land. They would even control Egypt for a time. Their control lasted over a century. This dominance, of course, impacted Israel and Judah.
Hosea and his ministry would be particularly impacted by six specific incursions by the Assyrians. Conquest and invasion, exile was a dreaded fate during biblical times and the Assyrians hung as an ever looming threat over them.
This created an environment of political instability.
Israel (Ephriam - The Northern Kingdom) would have six kings in the span of 30 years.
Zechariah (753BC) was murdered only after in six months in power
Shallum, the usurper, was assassinated one month later
Menahem (752-742) survived only because he paid a burdensome tribute to the Assyrian king Tiglath-pilaser.
Menahem’s son, Pekahiah (742-740) was assassinated by an army officer after only two years.
Hoshea’s rebellion against the Assyrians led to the end of the Norhern kingdom in 722BC
The spiritual condition of Israel (Ephraim) is seen as rebellious and wicked throughout. They are depicted as
A promiscuous wife
An indifferent mother
An illegitimate child
An ungrateful son
A stubborn heifer
A silly dove
A luxuriant vine
Grapes in the wilderness
The book of Hosea is primarily focused on Israel (Ephraim); referencing them 35 times in the book.
During Hosea’s ministry, worship of Baal was at an all time high
Hosea 1.
Hosea 1 ESV
1 The word of the Lord that came to Hosea, the son of Beeri, in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and in the days of Jeroboam the son of Joash, king of Israel. 2 When the Lord first spoke through Hosea, the Lord said to Hosea, “Go, take to yourself a wife of whoredom and have children of whoredom, for the land commits great whoredom by forsaking the Lord.” 3 So he went and took Gomer, the daughter of Diblaim, and she conceived and bore him a son. 4 And the Lord said to him, “Call his name Jezreel, for in just a little while I will punish the house of Jehu for the blood of Jezreel, and I will put an end to the kingdom of the house of Israel. 5 And on that day I will break the bow of Israel in the Valley of Jezreel.” 6 She conceived again and bore a daughter. And the Lord said to him, “Call her name No Mercy, for I will no more have mercy on the house of Israel, to forgive them at all. 7 But I will have mercy on the house of Judah, and I will save them by the Lord their God. I will not save them by bow or by sword or by war or by horses or by horsemen.” 8 When she had weaned No Mercy, she conceived and bore a son. 9 And the Lord said, “Call his name Not My People, for you are not my people, and I am not your God.” 10 Yet the number of the children of Israel shall be like the sand of the sea, which cannot be measured or numbered. And in the place where it was said to them, “You are not my people,” it shall be said to them, “Children of the living God.” 11 And the children of Judah and the children of Israel shall be gathered together, and they shall appoint for themselves one head. And they shall go up from the land, for great shall be the day of Jezreel.
Note verse 2 - This marriage was intended to be an object lesson BOTH of their adultery and God’s faithfulness.
Notice the for in the middle of verse 2.
Chapter 2 reveals the people’s rebellion and adultery. It shows God removing his blessing and bringing judgment.
Despite that, at the end of chapter 2 we read, (Hosea 2:16-23)
Hosea 2:16–23 ESV
16 “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me ‘My Husband,’ and no longer will you call me ‘My Baal.’ 17 For I will remove the names of the Baals from her mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more. 18 And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creeping things of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land, and I will make you lie down in safety. 19 And I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. 20 I will betroth you to me in faithfulness. And you shall know the Lord. 21 “And in that day I will answer, declares the Lord, I will answer the heavens, and they shall answer the earth, 22 and the earth shall answer the grain, the wine, and the oil, and they shall answer Jezreel, 23 and I will sow her for myself in the land. And I will have mercy on No Mercy, and I will say to Not My People, ‘You are my people’; and he shall say, ‘You are my God.’ ”
God promises to redeem and restore his people.
He follows that up with Hosea 3.
Hosea 3 ESV
1 And the Lord said to me, “Go again, love a woman who is loved by another man and is an adulteress, even as the Lord loves the children of Israel, though they turn to other gods and love cakes of raisins.” 2 So I bought her for fifteen shekels of silver and a homer and a lethech of barley. 3 And I said to her, “You must dwell as mine for many days. You shall not play the whore, or belong to another man; so will I also be to you.” 4 For the children of Israel shall dwell many days without king or prince, without sacrifice or pillar, without ephod or household gods. 5 Afterward the children of Israel shall return and seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and they shall come in fear to the Lord and to his goodness in the latter days.
God wanted this marriage to be a picture of his relationship with Israel, one that depicted HIS faithfulness to them despite their infidelity.
Problem is, Hosea 4 shows continual sin.
Hosea 5 shows God bringing judgment and discipline. His wrath and punishment bore down on them.
Hosea 6 exposes what God is really looking for....(Hosea 6:6)
Hosea 6:6 ESV
6 For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice, the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
Hosea 7 shows the nation of Israel as unrepentant and unchanging (Hosea 7:10)
Hosea 8 promises that they will reap what they have sown. They have sown sin and rebellion and will reap judgement .
Hosea 9-10 shows the cycle again. Sin and punishment.
Hosea 11 is a testament to God’s trustworthiness and faithfulness. Despite their continual rebellion and unrepentant hearts...
Hosea 11:1, 8-9.
Hosea 11:1 ESV
1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
Hosea 11:8–9 ESV
8 How can I give you up, O Ephraim? How can I hand you over, O Israel? How can I make you like Admah? How can I treat you like Zeboiim? My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender. 9 I will not execute my burning anger; I will not again destroy Ephraim; for I am God and not a man, the Holy One in your midst, and I will not come in wrath.
God loves, unconditionally his people and promises to not forsake them forever.
I am reminded here of 2 Timothy 2:8-13.
2 Timothy 2:8–13 ESV
8 Remember Jesus Christ, risen from the dead, the offspring of David, as preached in my gospel, 9 for which I am suffering, bound with chains as a criminal. But the word of God is not bound! 10 Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they also may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory. 11 The saying is trustworthy, for: If we have died with him, we will also live with him; 12 if we endure, we will also reign with him; if we deny him, he also will deny us; 13 if we are faithless, he remains faithful— for he cannot deny himself.
When God binds himself to us, he cannot deny us or be unfaithful to us. When he binds with his Spirit, in salvation, he cannot walk way.
This is not permission to sin.
Paul Himself said asked, since grace abounds the more we sin, does that mean we go and sin more? He says GOD FORBID.
God bound himself to Israel by covenant and he could not be faithless to that. He would not be faithless to that.
Skip to the end.
Hosea 14:4-7.
Hosea 14:4–7 ESV
4 I will heal their apostasy; I will love them freely, for my anger has turned from them. 5 I will be like the dew to Israel; he shall blossom like the lily; he shall take root like the trees of Lebanon; 6 his shoots shall spread out; his beauty shall be like the olive, and his fragrance like Lebanon. 7 They shall return and dwell beneath my shadow; they shall flourish like the grain; they shall blossom like the vine; their fame shall be like the wine of Lebanon.
When you see the rampart wickedness of Israel; their rebellious and unrepentant hearts; AND YET see this level of devotion and faithfulness of God, how can you NOT trust him?
My ESV Study bible bears these words....
…Israel’s unfaithfulness and obstinacy are not enough to exhaust God’s redeeming love that outstrips the human capacity to comprehend.
And that is the point.
God’s redeeming love.
His trustworthiness and faithfulness.
Short of the gospel of Christ, this is the greatest love story ever told. Have you ever witnessed this kind of love? I have seen glimpses of it. It exists throughout the church. But nothing truly parallels the story of Hosea and the heavenly story behind it. This is a holy love. Gomer was committed to her own desires. She looked everywhere to be filled. Hosea was committed to being a reflection of the Divine Husband. He knew it was impossible to satisfy his wife’s lusts, but he kept wooing her, imploring her to turn away from her own desires and find satisfaction in marital love. Finally, he redeemed her. He bought her back. Ed Welch
Do you see it?
Do you see the love of God pouring off the pages of this story?
THIS IS THE LOVE OF GOD.
When you are being so filled with this…why are we even needful of man’s love and acceptance?
When you are so filled with this…why do we pine after what man has to offer when we have such a perfect love openly and freely granted to us here?
When you are filled with this, you are freer than ever to love others as we are commanded.

Need other less; love others more

Step #7: Need other people less, love other people more. Out of obedience to Christ, and as a response to his love toward you, pursue others in love.
The Bible summarizes these various shapes this way: People are our cherished idols. We worship them, hoping they will take care of us, hoping they will give us what we feel we need. What we really need are biblical shapes and identities for other people. Then, instead of needing people to fill our desires, we can love people for the sake of God’s glory and fulfill the purpose for which we were created.
Loving others makes life less comfortable. It means that I give up my own agenda for a Saturday morning in order to help a neighbor. It means that I get hurt more when someone moves away. It means that people stay at our house when I would prefer to be surrounded with just my immediate family.
Ed Welch
As long as we “need” others to satisfy our desires, to feel valuable, worthy, accepted, fulfilled, etc, we will not be truly free love them well.
Why because it stands at odds with the biblical idea of love.
CS Lewis - Love is unselfishly choosing for another’s highest good.
“Needing” people for our benefit and unselfishly choosing for their highest good stand in opposition to each other. To pursue one, means to reject the other.
God call us to LOVE others.
He does not call use to USE others for our own perceived (or even legitimate) needs.
BUT when we all LOVE one another as God directs, we will receive from God, via others, exactly what God knows we need.
Our focus ought to be on unselfishly choosing for one another’s highest good.
Specifically there are three groups of people we are told to love in scripture. Our enemies, our neighbors, and our brothers.

Our enemies

This is probably the hardest area for us.
BUT this is also the area where the most true form of biblical love shines.
This is where the purest and clearest picture of love as unselfishly choosing for another’s highest good shines through.
In loving our enemies, there is little to no expectation of personal gain, personal fulfillment, etc. In loving our enemies, people who would have our misery and demise if they had a the chance, it is totally ONE sided.
It is easy to love our friends and even strangers who are friendly and appreciative. It is HARD to love and choose unselfishly for another’s highest good when you know (or more than likely know) that you will receiving nothing good in response.
How do we love our enemies then? Especially when in many cases we continue to see the unrighteousness, the wickedness, the evil that they continue to do?
We begin by understanding how God does and will respond to such wickedness.

God Responds to Our Enemies

There are many truths taught and affirmed in the Proverbs that teach that God will never allow enemies and evil to ultimately triumph.
Proverbs 1:18-19; 12:7; 16:25; 24:16.
Proverbs 12:7 ESV
The wicked are overthrown and are no more, but the house of the righteous will stand.
Proverbs 16:25 ESV
There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death.
Proverbs 10:27
Proverbs 11:2; 13:21; 16:5; 18:12.
Proverbs 13:21 ESV
Disaster pursues sinners, but the righteous are rewarded with good.
Proverbs 11:7; 14:11
Proverbs 19:9; 21:28
Proverbs 24:19-20
Point is, Proverbs makes it abundantly clear that evil, wickedness will not end anywhere good. And a failure to repent and turn away will put them in a terrifying place.
Paul says it differently but just as poignantly in Romans 12.
Romans 12:17-21.
Romans 12:17–21 ESV
17 Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. 18 If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. 19 Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” 20 To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” 21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Is NOT our job, nor right to seek vengeance.
And listen…we cannot improve upon God’s plan.
One of two things will happen…
The person repents and the precious blood of Jesus covers their sin, just as it covers ours and we become brothers and sisters in Christ. Oneness comes out of opposition.
The person fails to repents and lives an eternity in hell, in a lack of fire that never consumes them, worms eating upon their flesh, never being consumed, forever crushed on the just wrath of God either wallowing in the guilt and sorrow of missed opportunity or enslaved in a bitter rage against God maintaining their unrepentant heart.
EVEN IF, they live 100 years getting away with evil, do you really think they have gained anything? Do you think they have gained anything over us who suffer for 100 years but live a blessed and glorious eternity while they suffer for a terrible eternity?
Can you improve upon God’s plan?
Trust his plan. Rest in it. It is your hope and confidence.
Instead, we are called to unselfishly choose for another’s highest good, to love them, to serve them, and to seek their good…for the glory of God.
Treat your enemies as you would your friends and loved ones.
Not impossible WHEN we fear the Lord.
Love for enemies is the pinnacle of Christian obedience to God. It is easy to love those who love us back, who treat us nice. Loving our enemies and those who despise us…that is the truest expression of love.
In additional thought before I move on.
It should NOT be a cause for rejoicing when our enemies fall; when those who sought to destroy us “get what they deserve. Proverbs 24:17.
Proverbs 24:17 ESV
Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and let not your heart be glad when he stumbles,
We should desire their salvation.
It is not wrong to desire justice and long for wrongs to be set right. This is fact echos the heart of God, who is a just and holy God, righteous and true.
We can DESIRE that and LONG for that WITHOUT delighting in the necessary enforcement of that justice. It does not delight God to punish sin. It satisfies his justice, yes, but God would desire all men to repent. God does not get off on some sick vengeful thrills by the suffering of the unrepentant.
Neither should we.

Our neighbors

Luke 10:25-37.
Luke 10:25–37 ESV
25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?” 26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?” 27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.” 28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.” 29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road, and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was, and when he saw him, he had compassion. 34 He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him. 35 And the next day he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper, saying, ‘Take care of him, and whatever more you spend, I will repay you when I come back.’ 36 Which of these three, do you think, proved to be a neighbor to the man who fell among the robbers?” 37 He said, “The one who showed him mercy.” And Jesus said to him, “You go, and do likewise.”
The point of this little parable is that our neighbor is anyone in need. God calls us to serve others in need. This will require time, sacrifice, and intentionality.
BUT, when you love GOD, love for others becomes the FRUIT of our love for God.
Because the persistence of our sinful flesh, it will require work and a dying to self and our fleshly passion, but as we learn to love God more, as grow in our passion for God, love for others flow from our love for God.

Our brothers

Love Your Brothers and Sisters

Galatians 6:10.
Galatians 6:10 ESV
So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith.
This does not diminish the need to love enemies and neighbors, but we are part of a special and intimate family and with that should come a sense of devotion, care, and unity that we fight for.
God designed for us to live in community as followers of Christ.
God designed to live in a community as a means to reflect His image of community in the Trinity.
It is just assumed in Acts when people repented that they would be involved in a local gathering, a local community of the church.
We do not have time today to consider this in full, but consider the body of Christ as revealed in 1 Corinthians 12-14.
Spiritual gifts
Roles and responsibilities
Privileges and joys
Purposes and goals.
Consider all the ONE another texts of Scripture
LOVE/HONOR one another - John 13:34-35; 15:12, 17; Romans 12:10; 13:8; 14:13; 1 Thessalonians 3:12; 4:9; 2 Thess 1:3; 1 Peter 1:22; 1 John 3:11, 23; 4:7, 11-12; 2 John 1:5.
SERVE one-another: Galatians 5:13; Philippians 2:3; 1 Peter 4:9; 5:5
WELCOME one-another: Romans 15:7, 14
BUILD UP one-another: Romans 14:19
EXHORT one-another: Hebrews 3:13; 10:24
TEACH AND ADMONISH/INSTRUCT one-another: Romans 14:19; 15:14; Colossians 3:16; 1 Thessalonians 5:11; Hebrews 3:13; 10:24-25. Roman 15:14
BEAR WITH one-another: Galatians 6:2; Ephesians 4:2; Colossians 3:13
BE KIND TO/FORGIVE one-another: Ephesians 4:32; Colossians 3:13
SUBMIT/HUMBLE OURSELVES BEFORE one-another: Ephesians 5:21; 1 Peter 5:5
LAY DOWN OUR LIVES FOR one-another: 1 John 3:16
FELLOWSHIP WITH one-another: 1 John 1:7
CARE FOR INTERESTS OF one-another: Philippians 2:4
CONFESS SINS TO one-another: James 5:16
SPUR one-another on toward love and good deeds: Hebrews 10:24
ENCOURAGE one-another: 1 Th 4:18; 5:11; Hebrews 10:25
GREET one-another: 1 Corinthians 16:20
DO NOT PROVOKE OR ENVY one-another: Galatians 5:26
DO NOT LIE TO one-another: Colossians 3:9
DO NOT GRUMBLE one-another: James 5:9
ADDRESSING one-another (With Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs): Ephesians 5:19
LIVE IN HARMONY one-another: Romans 12:16; 15:5
BE AT PEACE WITH one-another: Romans 12:18; 1 Thessalonians 5:13.
What is the goal of all these one another’s?
To serve one another
To build them up
To seek their good
To promote oneness and unity.
Listen to scriptures heart and passion for unity and oneness within the body...
1 Corinthians 1:10.
1 Corinthians 1:10 ESV
10 I appeal to you, brothers, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be united in the same mind and the same judgment.
Ephesians 4:1-3.
Ephesians 4:1–3 ESV
1 I therefore, a prisoner for the Lord, urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
Philippians 2:1-3.
Philippians 2:1–3 ESV
1 So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, 2 complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind. 3 Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.
Romans 12:16.
Romans 12:16 ESV
16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight.
These are just a few of the places that strongly urge oneness in the body.
For me, probably the most powerful one is Jesus own prayer in John 17.
John 17:11, 20-26.
John 17:11 ESV
11 And I am no longer in the world, but they are in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one.
John 17:20–26 ESV
20 “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, 21 that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 The glory that you have given me I have given to them, that they may be one even as we are one, 23 I in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me. 24 Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world. 25 O righteous Father, even though the world does not know you, I know you, and these know that you have sent me. 26 I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.”
In what way(s) is the Father and Son One?
How does it strike you that God desires for the same depth of oneness with each other that He and the Son and the Spirit share?
With unity and oneness so near and dear to the heart of God, can you and I say that we value and appreciate it just as deeply?

Look

It can all be summarized by Romans 13:8-9.
Romans 13:8–9 ESV
8 Owe no one anything, except to love each other, for the one who loves another has fulfilled the law. 9 For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
We can only be free to love others this way when we fear God more, when we are satisfied in His love FOR HIS GLORY and as we stop needing others for our own selfish ends.
To put our duty more strongly, we are in debt to our enemies, neighbors, and friends. No matter what they have done, and no matter how lopsided our giving to them is in contrast with theirs to us, we are in their debt.
Will this love set us up to be hurt? Without question. C. S. Lewis indicated that if he wanted something easy and pain-free, he would have chosen a bottle of wine over Jesus. There is no question that biblical love leaves us more vulnerable. But this will not be the devastating vulnerability that comes with psychologically needing people. Christians need less and love more.
Will this debt of love set us up to be manipulated by those who want to use us for their ungodly purposes? Probably not, at least not for long.
Ed Welch
Be satisfied and delight in the love of God.
Need other less.
Love others more.

Took

The Conclusion of the Matter: Fear God and Keep His Commandments. Ecclesiastes 12:13.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 ESV
13 The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.
We fight fear of man, with the fear of God.
The fear of the Lord simplifies life. Ed Welch
As we do this, I pray that our fear of God grows and our fear of man diminishes.
For His glory.
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