welcome to this episode of real Christianity my name is Dale Partridge retweet I offer 15 to 20-minute answers to tough the illogical and pastoral question this is 100% listener support audio Ministry of relearn. Org and for those who don't know our mission a tree learn.org is to educate and equip ordinary Christians to plant biblical confessional and missional house churches for more information just visit relearn. Org forward slash house
 all right are you guys quiet Christians would you identify yourself as a quiet Christian do you have strong convictions but when you look at your life you haven't shared the biblical gospel with even say one person this year
 are you tired of being passive or fearful when it comes to talking about the gospel or proclaiming the gospel are you ready to speak up for righteousness well stay tuned because today we're going to be talking about all of those things but before we begin I just wanted to make one quick announcement
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 I know we're already about 45 minutes into this episode so today's question is from Jeff in Atlanta Atlanta Georgia and he asked a question Pastor Dale I'm an introvert by Design but I'm passionate about the gospel that said the current political climate and the growing hostility towards Christians especially here in cities like Atlanta has made me more timid toward public Ministry than ever before I want to speak up but the intimidation and verbal attacks are very real here how can I get past the sphere and be more public about the private convictions that I have a radiating within me great question Jeff thank you for writing in your not alone in this question I think that were actually I having many people who are trying to overcome the fear of evangelism with a free fear of the Proclamation of God's truths in our world
 so I think they were dealing with two things when you asked this question the first and most obvious issue I believe is the fear of man but the second is really an issue of Disobedience and I know that can seem like a heavy word I but we're going to break that down later in this episode let me start with the fear of man and then I'll move on let me let me tell you a short story I think it would be a great way to start this this episode and the 1960s Sabina wurmbrand she's the wife of Pastor Richard warm wurmbrand they were living in the incredible fear of Communism in Romania
 an in an outdoor event of some kind of government officials were disrespecting the name of Christ and Sabina asked her husband a question she said are you going to let these men from mud in the face of Christ and he responded to her if I say something you won't have a husband any longer and she said well I don't want a coward for a husband speak up and he did and he preach the truth and he won the crowd actually I later. He paid for his boldness in a variety of ways and he was experiencing years of torture in a communist prison
 I just for being a Christian and not letting people letting them know where other Christians were staying
 yes you live through this and now the founder of the ministry the voice of the martyrs and you can actually watch this incredible story at if you go to Amazon Prime and you look up the documentary it's a docudrama called tortured for Christ you can get that story there dr. Gary Higbie I think he helps us understand the lesson here when he said the person characterized by a fearful heart has a propensity to make an idol of security the person who chooses to not deal with a fearful heart always end up with spiritual paralysis the fear of man and a shaken faith and quote
 the only person the Bible gives permission for us to fear is God himself and sadly many Christians fear man more than they fear God that is the day they fear the reaction the rejection of the response of other humans more than they fear the disappointment in the disobedient the discipline of the Lord and what we forget is that when we fear God on his response back to us is fear not write another words to fear man as a child of God is to forget the power of God's sovereignty over our lives He commands us to fear not right to live and go without fear he didn't give us a spirit of fear but of power and love and of a sound mind or of self-control you will not die 1 minute before God appointed the time of your death you will
 change the appointed time of your death you will not be wounded or hurt without God's permission you will not be rejected without God's permission that we forget that the enemy of this world is called the prince of the power of the air but he's a prince and he's not the king and we forget that Satan needed permission to afflict job we forget the Jesus said all authority has been given to me in heaven and on Earth that we forget that Ephesians 11 or 111 says we have been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things in accordance with the plan of his will
 so in other words we forget that nothing can happen to us that the Lord himself has not permitted to occur this is good news and here's why we know that while God has not promised us a life free of sickness or persecution or trial that he has promised us that he will never leave us or forsake us we have the confidence that even though we may be hated for his namesake and then we might be imprisoned or even murdered or or wounded or hurt over our testimony of him we are eternally secure in our life in our in our spiritual life in the hand of God Proverbs 29:25 says the fear of man brings a snare but one who trusts in the Lord will be protected and this is in the Proverbs there are two types of
 a proverbial saying there's axiomatic which means that their general principles but not always true for example raise a child in the way they should go and when they are older they will not depart from it we wish that that was an absolute truth which is the other type of truth but it's not as an axiom at it true that the general principle of the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom is an absolute truth it's not an axiom attic and this is the scripture here is a absolute truth the fear of man brings a snare the one who trusts in the Lord will be protected eternally right this is a absolute truth in the Proverbs Matthew 10:28 says
 this is Jesus's words do not fear Those Who Kill the body but are unable to kill the soul but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and Body in Hell Sinclair Ferguson once said the fear of the Lord tends to take away all other fears this is the secret of Christian Courage and boldness and quote and I agree to fear is to believe that you as a slave of Christ hold the circumstances of your life in your own hands and as a Christian this is not true you have handed over the keys of your life to Christ and vowed to him that he will be Lord and you no longer do what you want to do you do what he wants you to do and this is why Paul could say in Galatians 2:20 I have been crucified with Christ and it is no longer I who live but Christ lives in me
 and the life which I Live Now In the Flesh I live by the faith or by faith in the Son of God who loved me and gave himself up for me
 and so my first exhortation to you Jeff and to all their listening is to stop fearing I know this is a difficult thing and I have my own fears that I've dealt with so I'm not saying that I don't fear forever cuz I do
 but our call from on high is to stop fearing and simply be faithful and let the Lord take care of the results you may be hated by then when you speak as a son of the king you're never going to be hated by God and not should grave give us a great confidence and courage
 don't talk about the second issue which I believe is just disobedience
 the result of fear is always Disobedience Cameron say that again I want you guys to swallow that one and let it just sit in your gut the result of fear is always Disobedience and that is that most Christians don't start with disobedience by saying I don't want to be faithful to the Great Commission that's not what they're saying it's the other way around they want to talk about Jesus but they don't because of their fear disobedience is the result of fear
 and I'm not I'm not sure who originally said this statement but it always stuck with me and it says the Great Commission is not the great suggestion
 Italian in America and in the west really that the church here is filled with fear Laden Christians that result in dead Ministries K dead Ministries
 I'm not talking about dead 501 c 3 minutes I'm talking about individual Christians with dead Ministries I want you to ask yourself a question do I have a Ministry
 ask yourself why do I have a Ministry if you're a Believer then the answer is unequivocally yes
 but the better question might be
 the ministry that I do have is it fruitful
 do I have a fruitful Ministry and I mean and examine yourself ask yourself that question do I have a fruitful Ministry
 is your Christian Ministry a priority in your life
 and I'm in a world with many ways and opportunities to proclaim the gospel do you take advantage of it
 do you have a blog or a podcast or social media Ministry do you have a local minister or small group or a church program that you're involved with do you just share the gospel with those you meet or disciple others that are in your church these are all valid ways I'm not saying that you need to have a mass of ministry but do you have any Ministry
 are you actually
 participating in the Great Commission or
 are you an inactive spectator who just consumed sermons and reads books and open your Bible every now and then but never participates in Sharing God's truths of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with those around you
 Jerry Bridges he wants wrote to Austin today we listened we listen to be entertained instead of being instructed to be moved emotionally rather than moved to obedience
 don't get I'm not saying that you need to have a Ministry like my Ministry know I'm saying that
 you get to be faithful with the gifts and the time and the resources and the calling that the Lord has given you and sharing the gospel teaching Christians about holy living studying the word of God correcting instructing one another and righteousness testifying to the world of Christ love or each commands in scripture says were called to do optional activities these are things that we should be doing on a regular basis their wonderful responsibilities of the redeemed
 I recently tweeted if Christ died for you you should be willing to speak up for him
 and Jesus says if you love me you'll keep my Commandments in other words the evidence of a saved person will be seen by their willingness and eagerness to keep his Commandments in this willingness is not primarily driven by Duty okay I'm not telling you to go do things it's driven by gratitude it's a reaction to the work that Christ has done in your life you're so incredibly thankful
 for God's call upon your knife your life in the Redemption that you have received that you were not worthy of that you had no participation in
 you're so thankful for what Christ has done for you that you are eager and excited to serve Christ whatever the cost
 and if you don't have the passion if you're struggling to be grateful for the Salvation which is this seat and the root in the heart of all Evangelistic work
 if you don't have that
 then consider listening to the episode I just did a couple weeks ago it's episode 114
 it's titled how to have a greater appreciation of your salvation
 it's a Jeff trust in God trust in God don't let the fear of man overcome your passion to proclaim the gospel I've learned that industry and in life of the right thing is almost always the hard thing faith is difficult in our flesh but you're you're faithful example especially in the face of risk especially in the face of rejection and hatred will be I promise encouraging to those other believers around you I think it was Billy Graham who won said courageous or courage is contagious when a Christian man takes a stand the spines of others are often stiffened
 I think that's true I think that's true and I think we will see a lot more of that in the coming years in the western church so get out there brother be faithful preach right share discussed post defend and just leave the results to the Lord
 she was always guys I'm going to leave you with two resources that will offer further understanding on this topic and I think that you will appreciate that the little collection I put together for you on this episode you could find them on the post page for this episode a tree learn.org this is episode 120 titled overcoming fear in evangelism
 and the two resources I got for you this time is a video one is titled how do I overcome my fear of evangelism with dr. Timothy Garth and he is a professor at Southern Seminary that's a great short videos worth watching and then there's another video by Jeff Durbin titled overcoming fear of evangelism and I think it's got a 10 minute video when I blink those for you on the website all the scripture references from this episode will be there as well so hopefully that'll be helpful for you regular listener to real Christianity and you have not left a review would you guys just go to the podcast app & Tap The Stars you don't need to write anything but those ratings of really do help the exposure of the show if you do want to write something I will read it I've appreciated many of the great feedback that I received from some of you in the encouragement that I've received from you guys through
 through the podcast reviews also if you know anybody that would be edified and strengthened by hearing about our podcast would you share an episode with them or just tag them online with real Christianity episode we love to introduce more people to sound Doctrine or theology that will help them live a Viber and fruitful Christian Life hopefully this episode was helpful for your journey I will close with that my name is Dale Partridge and I will see you guys next week
 thank you for listening to this episode of real Christianity if your regular listener to the show would you personally consider making a donation to support our ministry efforts simply visit relearn. Org forward slash donate again that's relearn. Org forward slash donate and for those looking to explore the idea of joining or planting a church in your home you can download our free pdf ebook title the basics of biblical House Church by visiting relearn. Org for house last week do you have a theological question you would like answered on the show submit your question at relearn. Org forward slash question thanks for joining us on this episode of real Christianity we will see you next Wednesday