(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

So, when I woke up to the news this morning, I don't know if you guys are watching the news, but there's an outbreak. No, it's not really an outbreak. There's one case in Melbourne, one COVID case, and what have they done? They've shut down, basically. They're going into some type of shutdown, some type of lockdown, bringing in the restrictions again, forcing the mask mandate, all these kinds of things. And just a few days ago, there was just one case that developed in Perth as well. And in Perth, they basically shut down. I think it was five days. It was a five-day lockdown in Perth because of this UK variant strain of the COVID virus. And I was just thinking about the past week, and I kind of changed what I was going to... I had another plan to preach, another sermon to preach tonight, but I was just considering the fact that we live in a time of fear, don't we? Like, we just see people reacting from fear, and it just seems to be just very unusual. It doesn't seem to just be a normal environment that we're functioning in. And if you look at 2 Timothy 1, verse number 7 there, 2 Timothy 1, verse number 7, it says, For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. And so, you know, brethren, one of the great things about being a believer, we don't have to fear like the unbelieving world, you know? God has not given us a spirit of fear. When it says that, it doesn't mean that we will never experience fear, okay? It just means that the Holy Ghost that is in us is not there to generate fear in this world. In fact, the Holy Ghost, the Holy Spirit that is in us is one that gives us power, it causes us to love, and it gives us a sound mind. So these are three different aspects that are different from fear. You know, if you've got the power, if you're acting out of love, if you've got a sound mind, it's going to help you not to act out of fear. But we do live in an environment, you know, not just Australia, but worldwide, there is a spirit of fear, okay? There is definitely demonic forces behind the scenes, you know, the devil's operating the way he wants to, you know, the devil wants people to be afraid, right? And the more that people are afraid, the more they're going to give up their liberties and give up their freedoms, you know, and basically turn to, you know, someone that is going to help alleviate that fear, but the one they don't want you to turn to is the Lord God. Now we have the Holy Spirit, we know to overcome fear, we've got the God of the Bible, we've got our Heavenly Father, we can go to Him when we're afraid, but the unbelieving world, which is the vast majority, they do not have God that they can turn to in a time of fear. And so just I was thinking about this idea of fear, and so I just put together a sermon this afternoon that I hope will be a blessing to you. And, you know, there are different fears that are in this world, you know, as I said, you know, some people are concerned about the virus itself, you know, you know, the COVID, you know, now they're talking about the UK variant, if you've been hearing the news, right, which is supposed to be apparently, you know, a lot more, what's the word contagious, though it doesn't seem to be spreading anywhere near as much as the original variant, right? But you know, you keep hearing about the UK variant, you know, it's so contagious, it's coming from the media, and they're just trying to cause you to be afraid, right, that they're running themselves through this spirit of fear that they're trying to broadcast to the whole world. Now, some people might not be afraid of the virus itself, but you know, afraid of governments, you know, most recently, of notes, you know, of international news was this, you know, President Joe Biden, and people are afraid what's going to happen, you know, because the US, you know, is a, you know, is a powerful nation, of course, you know, whatever take whatever happens in the US, it has ramifications to the rest of the world. You know, if the US does something, it seems like Australia just follows suit, and just follows the master there, whatever they approve, Australia will approve. And people are concerned about Joe Biden, what's going to happen is he going to destroy the free world. And some people have that fear, you know, some people might be afraid of the government where, you know, what if they force vaccinations, you know, what if they force us to take these things and people operate out of fear, you know, of being concerned, concerned about mandated vaccinations, maybe you have some fears about that, I don't know. You know, some people are afraid of technology, you know, we see that there are technological advances. And you know, in this time and age, of course, people are taking advantage of, you know, checking your every step, you know, making sure that the record keeping is up to date. And people are afraid of losing, as I mentioned before, their liberties, you know, they feel like they've been spied upon, you know, and they're concerned about the kind of data that has been collected about their, you know, how they travel or the things that they do online. And so there's a lot of fear about, you know, they're spying on me, they're spying on Christians, you know, some people are afraid of technology, about, you know, data collection, all these kinds of things. Some people are just afraid of the instability. As like, you know, we go, it seems like we go one week, and then next week, there's changes in the nation, next week, there's changes to the restrictions, there's changes again, things seem to free up, and then they, then the restrictions are back, and you've got the instability. No one likes instability. I don't like instability, you know. And one thing that I've, you know, I've preached that, especially for a married couple, you know, for a wife, a wife really hates instability. You know, she wants her husband to be a rock in the family, right? And she wants to follow that leader. And so, you know, we've got this instability in this world, and it causes, you know, to be unsettled, you don't know what the future holds. And, you know, we know this instability is purposely there to bring in what they call the new normal. And some people are concerned about, you know, what's the new normal going to be like? Are we going to be in state, you know, are we going to have this instability for a long time? I personally think this instability is going to continue, you know, all year, and probably all of next year as well. You know, I don't see this letting up at the moment. So shouldn't we be afraid, though? You know, some people might be afraid, nothing to do with the events, you know, current events, but they might be afraid of provisions, you know, you know, can I afford, you know, is my job paying me enough? Can I, can I provide for my family? Are we going to have what we need during some tough times? Some people are afraid about that. Can I provide, you know, provisions? Some people might be afraid of rejection about relationships, you know, and what if I get rejected by, you know, by my beliefs, the Christian beliefs, the Bible beliefs that I have, and people just have rejection all over the place, you know, any kind of relationships. There are all lots, there are, what I'm trying to say, brethren, there is a lot of things that people can be afraid of, all right? Maybe some of these things that I mentioned, you have fear of, you know, but as I mentioned, God has not given us a spirit of fear, okay? He's not given us that spirit. He's given us a spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind. Now, as I said, I truly believe, you know, the spiritual weakness in high places, they want us to be afraid. They want us to be fearful, okay? And again, thank God we've got the Bible. We don't really have to be afraid, okay? But we're human beings. We have the flesh. We get concerned and we get worried and these things happen. And first of all, let me just explain to you what some of the effects of fear are, you know? Fear can have many effects on your body and so this is something, if you are afraid, maybe it's not even on this list, maybe it's something else you're afraid about, you know, you need to be careful. You need to overcome this fear because it has damaging effects on your body. Number one, it weakens your immune system. If you're constantly afraid, it weakens your immune system. You're more likely to get sick, okay? Number two, it can develop ulcers and irritable bowel syndrome. So, you know, you're gonna have to go to the toilet on a regular basis. You know, fear, it's strange, but fear, this emotional fear, has strange effects on the body. You know, it's not God's intention for man to just be operating out of fear. It actually has physical damages to the body. Next thing that I found, it disrupts the formation of long-term memory. In other words, fear can affect your memory. You know, you can have some some type of memory loss. The fourth thing that I've got here, fear can bring upon brain or mind fog, you know, brain fog and this makes it difficult to think clearly and makes it very difficult in making good decisions. If you make a need to make a decision about something, fear can cause you to be foggy in the mind and you just make bad decisions instead of the best decisions you can make. Next thing that fear can do is bring upon panic attacks or heart palpitations and fear can also cause fatigue and depression. So you're overly tired, you don't know why, it's not like you've been working hard. No, but it's the fear that it drains the body, right? It causes fatigue and depression and so you can see that we don't want to be people that operate out of fear, okay? Now, fear is an emotion that God has given us and he's given it to us for a reason, all right? But if you can please turn to Psalms 56, please. Psalm 56 and verse number 3. Psalm 56 and verse number 3. Because if you do suffer with fears, if you are afraid about certain things, I don't want you to feel like you're this unusual person. I don't want you to feel like that, oh, you know, I failed God and, you know, I'm hopeless and, you know, how is it that other Christians seemingly don't have any fear but I'm struggling with this fear? Well, I want you to look at Psalm 56 and verse number 3 which reads, what time I am afraid, I will trust in thee. What time I am afraid. Listen, if you are someone that struggles with fear, let me just tell you that even the Psalmist had times where he was afraid. Even the Psalmist had times when he had fears and when he had those fears, when he was afraid, he said, no, you know what I'm gonna do? I'm gonna trust in thee. I'm gonna trust in the Lord, all right? So I want to help you overcome those fears. I don't want you to be operating out of fears and when you do have those fears, you know why you have them and what you need to do to overcome those fears, right? If you can please turn to Isaiah 11 for me. Turn to Isaiah 11. Isaiah chapter 11 and verse number 1. Isaiah chapter 11 and verse number 1. We want to overcome fear, okay? As I told you, it's not what God, it's not the spirit that God has given us and very clearly because it has damaging effects on your body, all right? So you need to figure out how is it that I overcome fear. Well, what we saw there in the Psalm is the Psalmist is going to trust in God when he is afraid but you know what? Fear in of itself is not sinful. You know, emotions in of themselves are not sinful, okay? It's just what you're emotional about could be sinful but the emotion itself is not sinful. You see, fear has a proper place and if you look at Isaiah chapter 11 and verse number 1, Isaiah chapter 11 and verse number 1, the Bible reads, and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots. Does anyone want to take a guess as to what this verse is about? The Lord Jesus Christ. It's a prophecy about Jesus Christ, okay? Look at what it says in verse number 2, and the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him. That's the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon who? On Jesus Christ, okay? Then it says the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge, look at this, and of the fear of the Lord. So is it good to fear? Is it good? It can be good as long as you're fearing the Lord, okay? God has given us this emotion for a reason. Say, what is the purpose of emotions? It's so we know to react to a certain situation. A situation presents itself, we experience an emotion like fear or like anger or like love, and the reason we experience this is so we know we need to react to the current situation that we're in. And so brethren, if you're feeling fear about these days, you know, about 2020, 2021, potentially 2022, who knows, then what that should drive you to think about is I need to react from this. I can't just stay in this state of emotion. How is it that I need to react? Well, number 1, brethren, fear God. Fear God, all right? I mean, if you want to overcome fear, just honestly fear, you know, point number 1, you have to fear God. Fear God above COVID-19. Fear God above corrupt governments, okay? Fear God above the spine and the technology that's going on in this world. You know, fear God above the instability that is in this world. Fear God above the fear of finances and the fear of providing, but fear God above all these things, and I promise you it's going to go a long way, going to go a long way to help you overcome all all other fears. Can you please turn to Matthew chapter 10 and verse number 28. Matthew chapter 10 verse number 28. Fear God. Listen, is fear a sin? No, okay? In fact, it's righteous so long as you're fearing the right thing. As long as you're fearing the Lord, it's perfectly right. And listen, if you have a fear of God, it's not going to have all these health conditions. You're not going to have the ulcers. You're not going to have the irritable bowel syndrome, okay? Because when you fear God, what you're doing is you're putting your full trust upon Him. You know, you know that God is in control. You know that God is a God that judges us when He commits sin. You know God also loves you. You know you're a child of God, and when you know that you're fearing God and you've got the protection of God in your life, you can go about life and not fear anything else, brethren. This is the truth of God's Word. Matthew chapter 10 verse number 28. Matthew chapter 10 verse 28 reads, And fear not them which kill the body. Isn't that the biggest fear that some people may have? You know, the reason we fear about providing is because, well, if we go hungry we could die. You know, the reason people fear about viruses, because if I catch the virus I might die. You know, the reason people fear about being spied, well, you know, they'll know where I am and they can come and kill me. I mean, really, ultimately, all these fears lead to, you know, the concern of death, all right? And Jesus Christ is saying, listen, don't be afraid of dying. Don't be afraid of those that can cause you to die. But then it continues by saying, but are not able to kill the soul, but rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. Who can destroy both soul and body in hell? The Lord God, okay? We've seen it before in the preaching on Sunday, that God created hell. The fires of hell are lit by His wrath and by His anger. That's the God we ought to fear, all right? But let's not fear the ones that can kill the body, because all they can do is kill the body. Listen, this body is going to die anyway. It's not going to die anyway, okay? If someone kills this body, it was always going to die. But listen, I know that my soul will never die. I know should this body die, this soul will be with God for all eternity, in the presence of God, and God still promised me one day to have a new body. He's going to take that old dead body, change it, and give me a resurrected body that will never die. It's going to be an immortal body. We're promised to be like Christ. And so, you know, this body, yeah, you know what? It's great. It allows us to function in this world, but let's not be afraid of losing this body. Life is more than this flesh and blood, okay? We have all eternity to look forward to. The Bible tells us that this life is just a vapor. It's here today, gone tomorrow. Now look, I want to live as long as I can, right? Because I actually enjoy life. I'm actually happy in life. I enjoy my family. I enjoy my children, you know? I want to live a long life so I can be a good influence, a godly influence to my family, to my friends, to this church. I mean, that's what I would like, but at the end of the day, if God says it's your time, it's your time and there's nothing more you can do about it. So why be afraid, right? Can you please turn to Acts chapter one? Acts chapter one for me. Acts chapter one. Point number one to overcome fear, as I mentioned, is to fear God. Listen, you fear God the right way, it's going to cause you not to be afraid of everything else. I promise you that. You fear God. You tremble before God, okay? You'd be concerned about how God sees you living your life. You're not going to be so concerned about every other issue that, you know, pops up. That, you know, that spirit of fear that is trying to get us afraid. While you turn to Acts chapter one, I'm going to read to you from Romans chapter one, which we've read before in some past sermons. Verse number 16, you know it. It says, For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth, to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. What we saw back in 2 Timothy chapter 1 verse 7, I'll just read it again. For God have not given us the spirit of fear, but of power. Okay? So the next point that I have for you, for you to overcome fear, brethren, is you need to tap into God's power. You need to tap into the power of God. And as I read to you, it said that he's not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God unto salvation. The power of God unto salvation. You know what? If you're here, you're already saved, you've already tapped into the power of God. Okay? The fact that you are saved means you tapped into that gospel message, you believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you received the power of salvation on your life. Hey, that's awesome. Because now you don't have to fear about eternity. You don't have to fear about hell. You know, you no longer have doubts. It should be that way, that you no longer have doubts that I'm gonna die and maybe go to hell. No, because you know Christ has done everything necessary for you to be saved and go to heaven. Jesus Christ did it all. I mean, if I had to do anything, any work, brethren, I would fail that work. I mean, just one work if God says, look, here's one work you have to do to be saved. I'm gonna mess that up. You're gonna mess that up. God says, you know what, it's without works. Okay, Christ has done all the work. We rest we trust upon Him. And that's wonderful. You know, because that's that's one reason that I don't have to fear the death of this body because I know where I'm going to be. I have no concern. It never crosses my mind. But what if I go to hell? That should not cross your mind. Because Christ has saved you from hell. He has saved you from your sins. In fact, all your sins were laid on the cross with Him, you know, 2000 years ago, and you stand before God in the righteousness of Christ. I mean, how much better can it be than standing before God in the righteousness, the imputed righteousness of Jesus Christ. We never have to fear about hell, because we've tapped into the power of God, salvation, which was the gospel. Now, I spoke about the gospel not long ago, so I won't rehash that too much. But you're in Acts chapter one, verse number eight. So now that we are saved, Acts chapter one, verse number eight, now that we are saved, now that we have tapped into that power of God unto salvation. Well, there's more power that God wants us to experience. And this is why I've been preaching through the series on soul winning, okay? Because this is another power of God that we can use as we live our Christian lives. Verse number eight, it says, but ye shall receive power. And after that, the Holy Ghost has come upon you. So what's that power? The power was the Holy Ghost upon us. Praise God for his Holy Ghost. Praise God for the Spirit of God, right? It's not a spirit of fear. It's a spirit of power. And you've got that. You say, what am I supposed to do with the power? What am I supposed to do with the Spirit of God in my life? Well, it says there, and ye shall be witnesses unto me, both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the utmost part of the earth. You say, oh man, I've got fears. I need to tap into God's power. What can I do, Pastor Kevin? You can be a witness. You can be a witness of Jesus Christ. You can be a witness of the same gospel message that got you saved to others. That's tapping into the power of God, going out there preaching the gospel. That's going to help you overcome fear as well. What a wonderful thing that the power of God helps us overcome the fears that we have in our lives. God has given us the power to witness. Okay, so we've tapped into God's powerful salvation. God's given us the power to witness of his gospel message. And if you can please now turn to 1 Corinthians chapter 2, 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse number 4, 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and verse number 4. We've been given the power unto salvation. We've been given the power to witness. And in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 verse number 4, it reads, and my speech and my preaching was not with enticing words of man's wisdom. Thank God. Man, if I had to be a pastor and had to preach man's wisdom, I'd fail you. Every week I'd get up behind you, I just fail. I don't have man's wisdom. I'm not a very wise man. I'll tell you that. Okay? If you think I'm wise when I preach, it's just because I basically tell you what the Bible says. Okay? Because there's wisdom in God's Word, right? Myself, of myself, I'm really nothing, brethren. Thank God. That's not how preaching is. We don't preach with enticing words of man's wisdom. But it says, yeah, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Why is it that we need to hear preaching coming from a Spirit-filled man who's tapping into the power of God? Because in verse number 5 it says that your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of God. Okay? So what's it saying there? That your faith should stand in the power of God. What's going to keep us standing in a day of instability? What's going to keep us standing in a day where restrictions come, restrictions go, we don't know what's going on, virus is here, virus is there. What's going to cause us to stand? It's the Spirit. The power. The power of preaching. The power of preaching God's Word is going to help us remain faithful and stand strong. This is what we need. We need to tap into the power of God. Salvation. Check. Good. We got that. Witnessing. Preaching the gospel. Have you got that? I hope so. And thirdly, we stand on the preaching of God's Word. That's going to help us be encouraged. It's going to help us be faithful to God and stand. You know, when the rest of this world is unstable, when the rest of this world is experiencing the power of fear or the Spirit of fear, we can have the power to stand in these strange days. In these strange days, in these wicked days, I want us to stand. I want to keep standing. I want you to keep standing. I want bless and hope to continue to stand in these weird days. They are weird days. There's a lot of fear. There's a lot of fear. And you know, we can either get frustrated that we experienced this or we can get encouraged and go, what an exciting time to be tested. You know, for our love to be tested. You know, our faith to be tested. Our strength to be tested. This is a great testing opportunity. You know, even if you catch the virus, you know, being tested, will you, will you, you know, have your trust in the Lord or are you going to be fearful of death? You know, we shouldn't be afraid of death. We shouldn't be afraid of death, right? We should be able to stand strong in this evil day, in this wicked day, in these strange days. And I believe God's given us everything we need. We have God in us. We have the Holy Ghost in us. He is the one that gives us the power to stand. Now we saw that God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, which I've talked about. The next one that's mentioned there is, and of love. But I'm not going to preach on love because I've gone, I'm planning to preach on love this coming Sunday. Okay, so we'll avoid that for the time being. But brethren, you know what? Just expressing love. Love to the Lord. Love to the brethren, right? Having the love of the Father instead of love in this world will help you overcome fear as well. But I won't get into that because I'm going to cover that topic on Sunday. And then it says, and of a sound mind. You know what we really need in a time of fear? We really need a sound mind because, you know, fears will mess up the mind. We already saw some of the effects of fear. It affects your mind, you know, long-term memory, making decisions, right? And so when fear affects your mind, you cannot have that sound mind. So you need to be, you know, so you need to desire that sound mind. You need to go to the Lord and say, Lord, I've got these fears. I've got these concerns. Please give me a sound mind so I can, you know, make the right decisions. So I can live and stand strong during this evil day. And that's what sound means. To be sound, it means to be firm. It means to be solid, okay? When we talk about a sound mind, you're firm and you're solid, okay? You're not someone that's overreacting. You're not someone that's, you know, trying to spread fear amongst other people. You know, you're not someone that's, oh, this, maybe we'll do this. Maybe we'll do that. Maybe we'll do this. I don't know. What do we do? What do we do, brethren? That's not how we ought to be, okay? We need to be men, or we need to be people with a sound mind. And if you can please turn to John chapter 7, verse number 1. John chapter 7 and verse number 1. John chapter 7 and verse number 1. You know, to be sound of mind, it means we have to assess the situation. You know, things change. And, you know, I hate change. I hate change, okay? But I know it's part of life. Things change. And it doesn't mean that I'm in favour of change. I'm not in favour of a new normal. But I know it's happening. I know this world is changing. I know, you know, the world when it used to, you know, back, you know, 20, what was last year? 2020. So 2019, the way things were in 2019, I'm not expecting it to come back. I hope it does. I hope things return to the normality that I'm used to, okay? But I don't think it's going to happen. And I don't say that to cause you to fear, but just to realise that this may continue for several, several years, okay? Maybe things will never go back to normality. And so what are we going to do? Are we just going to be afraid? You know, are we just going to not have the sound mind? Are we not going to be tapping into the power of God because we're just so afraid about what's going on? No. But, you know, we have to learn how to adapt, okay? And you know what? Thinking that we can just continue, no matter what, you know, I don't care what's happening in this world, I don't care what's going on in this virus, you know what, we're just going to continue as we are, that's not being sound-minded, okay? You have to consider the reality. You've got to consider what's going on in the real world. And the reason I'm going to turn to John chapter 7 verse number 1 is because I just want to show you how Jesus responds to a dangerous situation, a situation that is not in his favour. John chapter 7 verse number 1 says, after these things, Jesus walked in Galilee, for he would not walk in Jewry because the Jews sought to kill him. What's Jewry? Jewry is a reference to Jerusalem and the surrounding, you know, towns, surrounding towns, surrounding areas of Jerusalem, that's Jewry, all right? And look, people there sought to kill Jesus. There was a threat to Jesus' life. You might say, oh, come on, Jesus, you ought to obey God rather than man. Go to Jerusalem. Are you afraid, Jesus? How does Jesus respond? Listen, Jesus is God, all right? We're commanded to follow after his steps, okay? So what does he see? He sees a threat. He sees a change in situation. He says, look, if I go into Jewry, they're going to kill me before the time. Oh, Jesus, you must be so afraid. Jesus was not afraid of man, okay? But he's come to teach us some lessons. When there's a threat, what does he do? He goes, you know what? It'd be nice to go to Jerusalem. It'd be nice to go to Jewry. It'd be nice to get out there and preach the gospel and do the works of God, but I realize there's a threat. I realize there's a change in situation, and I'm just going to have to adapt to it. I'm just going to have to spend more time in Galilee and do more work here, you know, in Galilee, where I'm not being threatened for my life. Say, oh, Jesus, come on. You know, are you afraid, Jesus? You know, no. Listen, Jesus is of a sound mind, okay? He sees a threat. He sees a change in world. He says, you know what? I'm just going to have to adapt, okay? I wanted to go to Jewry. It's not going to happen. He gives us the reason, okay? Right there at the end of verse number one, because the Jews sought to kill him. That's why he didn't go to Jewry. It's not like that wasn't his intention. He wanted to go there, but he did not want to go there because there were Jews that sought to kill him. Oh, Jesus. You know, how man, you failed. No, that's ridiculous to have the attitude, but I want you to notice Christ has given us an example of a sound mind, okay? Oh, danger, threat. Let's avoid it. Let's do something else, all right? And I'm saying this because obviously as the pastor of this church, we have to assess the threats out there. We have to assess the situation and see how things change. Go, well, you know what? We're going to go from meeting twice on Sunday. Let's meet once at my house, right? There's a loophole over here. Let's jump through that. Oh, Pastor Kevin, you must be so afraid. No, it's a sound mind. Listen, you know, you just have to learn how to adapt, okay? Again, do I like changing? No, I don't like changing. I don't like having to adapt. I don't, you know, I'd like to keep things the way they always are, but listen, if there are threats, if there's changing situations, we're just going to have to go, well, that's just the reality of life, you know, not act out of fear, but go, okay, with a sound mind, with the power of God and working out of love, what is it that I have to do to ensure that we continue serving the Lord in whatever capacity that we can? That's just life. We have to get used to this. You know, things might continue to change, and I say this because, you know, I know my flesh, and my flesh is one that gets frustrated. You know, I want to have church just right here, you know, three times a week, singing, no mass. That's what I want. I want normality, but there's this changing situation, all right? We just have to adapt to that situation. You know, tap into the Spirit of God. It helps us be tested. It helps us exercise tapping into the power of God and the sound mind that you need to have, right? And so God, Jesus Christ, assesses the situation. No, I'm not going to Jewry. I'm not going there anymore. I'm going to go somewhere else. I'm going to do something different. And that's just the way it's going to be, brethren, at least for now, you know, until things return to either the old normal or a new normal, right? Things are going to continue to change, and we just have to learn how to adapt. And I don't want you to get frustrated. I don't want you to be fearful. I just want you to say, hey, you know what? This is all right. Here are the options. This looks like the best option. Let's go with it. You know, if we as a church just get behind the vision, you know, we still want to preach the gospel. We still want to reach the lost. We still want to praise God. We still want to learn the Bible. You know, we can still do all these things. Praise God. You know, there are places in this world where they just can't meet. You know, they're risking their lives to meet and be gathered together for church. We don't have that situation still, even though it's still frustrating, right? Can you please turn to John 18? Sorry, John chapter 8. John chapter 8. Next chapter. John chapter 8. John chapter 8, verse number 3. John chapter 8, verse number 3. We go to the story here of the woman caught in adultery, being brought before Jesus Christ. All right? You guys know that story? Verse number 3. It says, And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery, and when they, by the way, let me just stop there, brought unto him a woman taken in adultery. Who's the narrator of the Bible? The Holy Spirit. Is the Holy Spirit saying that this woman was taken in adultery? Yes. Meaning she committed adultery, okay? This isn't just what the Pharisees, they're not lying about the situation. She definitely committed adultery, okay? She's definitely committed a sin worthy of death according to the law of Moses, okay? So let's understand that. Let's keep going. It says here, And when they had sent her in the midst, verse number 4, they said to him, Master, that's Jesus, this woman was taken in adultery, in the very act. Now Moses in the law commanded us that such should be stoned. But what sayest thou? This they said, tempting him that they might have to accuse him, but Jesus stooped down, and with his finger wrote on the ground, as though he heard them not. Come on, Jesus. You know, you might take the attitude. Jesus, come on. They're right. This woman's caught in adultery. The law of Moses says she needs to be stoned to death. Aren't you the God of the Bible? Aren't you the Word of God? Okay. Say, why doesn't Jesus Christ say yeah? Alright. Have we got the two or three witnesses? Alright, let's stone her. Does he take that view? You know, we see that Jesus understands the current situation he's in. This isn't like the days of Moses. You know, this nation is under the authority and power of the Roman Empire. Can you please keep your finger there? We're going to come back to John chapter 8. Please turn to John chapter 18. Turn to John chapter 18 and verse number 29. John chapter 18 and verse number 29. We're fast-forwarding to the story when Jesus Christ was arrested and brought before Pilate, okay, to be crucified. And in verse number 29, it says, Pilate then went out unto them and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him unto thee. Then said Pilate unto them, Take ye him and judge him according to your law. The Jews therefore said unto him, It is not lawful for us to put any man to death, that the saying of Jesus might be fulfilled, which he spake, signifying what death he should die. What's happening? We have the Jews, the Pharisees, the scribes, you know, the chief priests, they've arrested Jesus, they've brought him before Pilate, and they're saying, Look, it's not lawful for us to put any man to death. What do you mean? What? Hold on, weren't they just trying to put that woman that committed adultery to death? Listen, so when they're saying it's not lawful for us to do this, are they talking about the law of Moses? No, the law of Moses gives them many, many, you know, punishments, you know, many times that the death penalty should be administered, you know, on certain crimes, all right? They have been given the authority to put a man to death, right? But they've gone to Pilate and said, Look, we don't, it's not lawful. Say, why is that? Well, you know, I even looked this up in history. But when the Jews were taken over by the Roman Empire, they were not allowed to follow through with capital punishment. They were not allowed to put any man to death unless they got the permission from the authorities, from the Roman Empire, okay? If the Roman Empire said, Yes, that man can be put to death, then they would carry forth and put someone to death. Okay? And so Jesus Christ, knowing this, is living in a time where the Roman Empire is the authority of the land, okay? But we know the law of Moses, which says, put it to death. Okay? So how's Jesus Christ going to balance this? He knows that the law of Moses says she needs to die. But at the same time, he knows he's on the Roman, on the Roman authority, and they're not allowed to put anyone to death, okay? Unless they first get permission from the, from the Roman Empire, or from the Roman governors, whoever it is, right? So let's go back to John chapter eight, verse number seven. John chapter eight, verse number seven. And I love this about Jesus, because he's so smart. You know, he has a sound mind. He's caught in this situation. You know, I think for a lot of us, we wouldn't know how to respond. Right? Well, God's law says this. But I know if I say that, I'm going against the law of man. I'm going against the ordinances of man. I'm going against what they've asked us to do. So how does Christ balance this? Well, you know, again, you might just take the take the view of God, Jesus Christ, come on, Jesus, we ought to obey God rather than man. Just stone her. Say, Oh, man, Jesus, you must be afraid to say what the Bible says, that she deserves to be stoned. You must be afraid of that, Jesus. Why aren't you doing it? Okay, you can take the attitude, but not Christ had a sound mind. He knew how to respond. Verse number seven. When, so when they continued asking him, he lifted up himself and said unto them, he that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her. So does Christ uphold the law of Moses? Yes. He says, all right, if you're without sin, you can cast a stone, meaning she does deserve to die by stoning. But make sure it's someone that's without sin. So does he uphold the law of Moses? Yes, he does. Okay. But then when we have those words, what does he cause them to do? In verse number eight. And again, he stooped down and wrote on the ground. And they which heard it being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even until the last, and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst. So they all feel convicted. Oh, man, we all have sin. Right? And they all leave. You know, they all none of us can throw the first stone, because we all have sinned. We've all sinned against God. They realize that they leave the scene. Now it's only Jesus and this woman left. Verse number 10. When Jesus had lifted up himself and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, woman, where are those thine accusers? Have no man condemned thee? She said, no man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, neither do I condemn thee. Go and sin no more. Okay, so how does Christ deal with this? He gets rid of the two or three witnesses. You know, in order to put someone to death, you needed two or three witnesses. Amen. You know that in the Bible. Okay, well, Jesus Christ gets rid of all the witnesses. It's just him. One witness is not enough to condemn this woman. Okay, so it says that neither do I condemn thee. Right? He's not saying you didn't commit the sin. He doesn't say you didn't commit adultery. He's not saying you're innocent. He's not saying you don't deserve to die. In fact, he said you do deserve to die. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone. He upholds the law of Moses, but he also recognizes, the situation he's in, he recognizes that they can't just kill someone without permission from the Roman Empire. And so he honors the authorities as well. I mean, Jesus Christ is the master at having a sound mind. Okay, he upholds a foreign power and ungodly power and ungodly authority upholds their authority, and also upholds the Word of God. She did deserve to die. But then Christ, who is God himself, is able to forgive her of her sins. Okay, he got rid of the witnesses. There's not enough witnesses to put it to death. I mean, did Christ act out of a sound mind or what? Okay, he did not respond out of fear. You know, all these people bringing this and all these men bringing this woman before him. Oh God, who are you going to choose? Are you going to choose to obey God or are you going to choose to obey man? Jesus Christ said I'm going to obey both. He was able to find a way to obey both, the Lord and man. And so he's operating out of a sound mind. And I want you to notice that, you know, he stoops down on the ground. Christ is patient, isn't he? He thinks about how to respond. I don't know what he wrote on the ground. I don't think it's a big deal. But the point is, you know, he did not, you know, respond quickly. And we're going to look at these things. We're going to see how we can have a sound mind because I don't want you to be afraid. If you don't have a sound mind, you will struggle with fear. You know, being sound is going to help you make good decisions, all right, and make logical decisions, make reason decisions, and decisions that also others can look at and say, hey, that's a good plan. Let's do that. Let's serve God. At the same time, we honor the authorities that are over us, even though they're corrupt. Okay. Can you please turn to Titus chapter one, please turn to Titus chapter one. Because I want to end this sermon by giving you some tips of having a sound mind, just some biblical tips that I've found through the Bible, having a sound mind or just making good decisions in life, decision making. And so, you know, I truly believe if you apply these things, it's going to help you not to be afraid. You know, when the media is trying to make you afraid, you know, when this world is trying to make you afraid, when the devil's trying to cause you to be afraid, if you just say, you know what, I'm going to tap into the power of God, I'm going to love my brethren, I'm going to love the Lord, I'm going to have this sound mind, you're going to be able to overcome fear, if you do these things correctly. Okay. Number one, in order for you to have a sound mind and make good decisions, number one, you have to settle biblical truths. Okay, you have to settle biblical truths. Now what I mean by that is, you're not going to know everything in the Bible. I don't know everything in the Bible. There's no man on this earth that knows everything in this Bible. Okay. And I'm not so prideful to think that everything I say about the Bible is correct. I realize I can be incorrect about certain things. Okay. There are cryptic passages, there are challenging passages in the Bible. Okay. And we do the best we can. We just we know the Bible is true. And that we're just weak man, we need the Spirit of God to help us learn His Word. Okay. But there are some truths, there are some biblical truths that are just foundational to the Christian life. I mean, without these fundamental truths, you really don't have Christianity. Okay. And just some of them very quickly, the virgin birth, the blood atonement, you know, creation in six days, the return of Jesus Christ, what else, the deity of Christ, the Trinity. I mean, these are things that are just fundamental to the Christian faith. Okay. And listen, when you learn these things, when you understand these things, when you know where they are in the Bible, just stand on those truths. Okay, just lock it in and never question it again. Just move on from that part of your life. That's the, that's a bad, you know, the baby in Christ needs to lock in the fundamental truths. You know, if you've been saved for a long period of time, you should know some of these truths already. Okay. They should be basic. You know, so you know, if a Mormon walks up to you and tells you that Jesus Christ is just a lesser God, you know, you just know that that's stupid. I'm not going to listen to that. You know, that's not going to affect me in my life, because I know the truth of God's Word. So we need to just settle biblical truths. Number one, those that are fundamental, but also doctrines that are just clear and obvious. Just black and white scriptures. You know, just the things that are just so basic and obvious. You know, does God want us to tell the truth? Yes. Does God hate lying? Yes. You know, does God hate us committing, you know, not want us to commit sin? Yes. You know, I mean, just, just the basic things, you know, shouldn't we be drinking alcohol and pumping our bodies full of drugs? No. Things that are black and white, obvious in the Bible. Just settle those, lock them in. Okay. Just, should we read our Bibles? Yes. Should we go to church? Yes. Should I get baptized after I got saved? Yes. Should I go sawing in? Yes. Just the things that are obvious and black and white, just lock them in. Okay. And just don't be unsettled. Okay. Because the more you lock in from God, listen, God's word is truth. It's 100% truth. And so the things that God has made easy to understand, just lock them in and never move from there again. Just, just be established as a believer. The reason I say this brethren, is because when you're afraid, when you're fearful, you start becoming a little bit uneasy, a little bit unsure. All right. And you might hear a false doctrine and go, that's kind of sounds right. I can see some truths there. That's just kind of challenging me a little bit. Yeah. But if you establish the basic things, if you establish what is black and white and obvious, you're not going to be misled. You're not going to be tossed to and fro with every wind of doctrine. You're in Titus chapter one, verse number nine. Titus chapter one, verse number nine. It says, holding fast the faithful word as he had been taught, that he may be able to look at this by sound doctrine, both to exhort and convince the gainslayers. You know what's going to help? A sound mind knowing sound doctrine. You know, I mean, look, if there are cryptic things, if there are things that are tertiary, secondary, tertiary, and we disagree on those things, so what? Okay. Listen, we're always going to disagree with things. It's just that's life. Okay. And I'm not trying to make you believe things exactly like me about every little thing, because I realized that I can be wrong about certain things. Okay. But I'm talking about the obvious scriptures. Easy to understand. Things that most Christians just already know because they've read the Bible. You lock them in, sound doctrine, and then you build from there. Okay. So what I'm trying to say is that whatever decisions you make or the thoughts that you have, they have to be compatible with God's Word. The more you know God's Word, the most established you're going to be to make decisions. You know, if you make a decision and you think about it and go, hold on, I was going to do this. I was thinking like this because of fear. And then I realized when I go back to God's Word, that's not compatible with what God wants from me. That's not compatible with how God wants me to live my life. That's not compatible with these doctrines that I know are clear in the Bible. And when they're not compatible, you say, what? That's a bad decision. That's a bad thought. That's a bad opinion. I'm not going to do that. But if your opinion, your decisions are compatible with God's Word, then praise God. That's going to be a good decision to make. If it's compatible. I don't know if it's compatible. You got to read your Bible. You got to study your Bible. You've got to establish yourself on these key doctrines. You know, Matthew chapter seven, verse 24 says, Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, these sayings of mine, the words of Christ, he says, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. Brethren, you know, in these uncertain times, we can be people that have built our house upon the rock. Say, what's the rock? It's God's words. It's the words of Jesus. It's the Bible. Not just know what the Bible says, but doing what the Bible says, and you'll be established. You won't have to be afraid when the rains fall, when the winds come and it beats upon the house, you know it's going to stand strong. So whatever decisions you make, brethren, make sure you first have established God's word doctrines. You know what God wants. You know what God expects. Then you base the rest of your life, the rest of your decisions, the rest of your opinions on making sure it's compatible with what God's word says. Can you please turn to Proverbs chapter 14, Proverbs chapter 14 and verse number 29, Proverbs chapter 14 and verse number 29, Proverbs 14. My next point in order for you to have a sound mind, and I get this from the example of Jesus, okay, is don't be hasty. Don't be hasty. Don't rush into a decision. Don't be, I'm afraid. What do we do? We're going to do this. No, just wait. Okay, situation, things develop, things change, further restrictions, other mandates, who knows what's going on? Who knows what's around the corner? God knows, okay. But whatever happens, brethren, don't be hasty. Even Jesus Christ took time, you know, to think about how he's going to respond to the Pharisees, all right, when they brought that woman that committed adultery before him. Proverbs 14, sorry, Proverbs 14 verse 29 reads, he that is slow to wrath is of great understanding, but he that is hasty of spirits exalts of folly. Okay, folly is like foolishness, making bad decisions. If you're hasty in making decisions, if you're hasty in forming an opinion, if you're hasty to speak without considering all the facts in the situation, you're going to end up in folly. You're going to end up looking foolish, okay. But notice there in verse number 29, it says he that is slow to wrath is of great understanding. Is wrath a sin? Is getting angry a sin? No, okay, nothing wrong with the emotion, okay, but it's better to be slow at wrath, you know, be slow at getting angry, consider things as they come your way, rather than being hasty, getting angry and reacting in a way that you should not have and then, you know, you just put your foolishness out for everybody else to see. Can you please turn to Proverbs 29 verse 20, Proverbs 29 verse number 20. It's easy to get angry at this world, it's easy to get full of wrath about what's going on, but brethren don't be hasty, just pause, be patient, think, ask God to help you. Lord, how do I make the best decision I can in my life at this point in time? With the information that you have in front of you, don't be hasty. Proverbs 29 verse 20, Proverbs 29 verse 20 reads, see as thou a man that is hasty in his words, there is more hope of a fool than of him, a man who is hasty in his words. Be careful about what you say, okay, especially when times are difficult, times are tough, you might say something that you regret and then because of the pride of man, you say it and you just can't let go of it. You're like, man, I said that now, I've got to keep that, what are people going to think about me if I don't follow what I just said? You know, people are going to think, and here's the thing about that, being hasty, it says there, there is more hope of a fool, okay, so what he's saying is if you're hasty, you're more foolish than a fool, okay, you're more foolish than a fool if you act out of haste and you got to learn how to be patient, you know, let this COVID-19, let this world we're living in help you work on patience, you know, let it help you not to be hasty in your decisions, to think about the pros, think about the cons, speak to the Lord, ask him to give you the power of the Holy Ghost, to make a decision of a sound mind, you know, this is a great training opportunity for all of us brethren to be more well-rounded, okay, to know what the Lord wants in our life and to just walk in his ways, I think, I think the next few years, I don't know what's going to happen brethren, but I think it's going to be exciting, I think opportunities are going to open up where we can do even greater things for God, but we can't act out of haste, we need to consider the changes, tap into God's power, tap into God's word and make the best decisions we can, hey for blessing up at this church, for our families and also just an individual basis as well, okay, can you please turn to Proverbs 15, Proverbs 15 verse 18, Proverbs 15, the next point I have in order for you to be of a sound mind is you've got to temper your emotions, temper your emotions, where we all have emotions, okay, my wife says to me, you know, she doesn't call me pastor Kevin, she says, you know, you're not a very emotional person, but I am, God's given me emotions, it's just that I've learned how to temper my emotions, I can be very angry and you don't even know, I can be very sad and you won't even know, you know, it's just that I've learned how to temper them, you know, and there are times where I might be emotional about something, but you know, you might be a leader, you're maybe a husband, you're a leader in the house or you're a leader in the church and you just got to be, you just got to look like you've got things under control, even though internally, you feel like things are out of control, you know, outwardly, you just got to project, hey, this is what we're doing, this is what's going on and you're just going to project that confidence because you realize that people are relying on you, especially as a father with a lot of children, they're looking at that, they're saying, hey dad, what's going on in this world, things are changing so rapidly, what do we do? And I'm sure my kids want nothing more than to see a strong leader, alright, temper your emotions, okay, don't forget, emotions are not sinful in of themselves, okay, emotions are useful to prompt a response, right, I mean, you know, if I'm going soul-winning and there's like this aggressive dog, you know, just snarling at me, showing me his teeth, you know, I'm going to react a bit out of fear, a bit of concern, right, I'm just going to step away and maybe go, you know, I'm not going to this house, you know, emotions are there to cause you to respond, say, instead of just throwing yourself to danger, okay, you respond, you assess the threat, go, yep, my emotions are telling me, this is a threat, I'm going to get out of here, okay. Now, Proverbs chapter 15, verse number 18, it says, a wrathful man, a wrathful man stirs up strife, say, see, Pastor Kevin, being full of wrath, or getting angry, you know, it's a sin, look, it's surf up strife, but notice, notice the rest of it, it says here, but he that is slow to anger, appease of strife, so is it a sin to get angry? No, but when we get angry, it ought to be something that is slow to anger, okay, we need to temper our emotions, have them under control, okay, again, emotions are there to cause us to respond, but don't respond out of emotion, okay, when we respond, we ought to respond out of a sound mind, when we respond, we ought to respond out of power, and out of love, okay, and thank God for the emotions he's given us, so we know this is a situation we need to react to, this is a situation we need to respond to, now God, give me a sound mind, so I can respond in a proper manner, okay, everybody knows that unchecked emotions can cause you to behave irrationally, you know, I think everyone has experienced a time where they were just overly emotional, they said something, they did something that they regret, but they would never have done it if they didn't get so emotional, we know that emotions can fog our minds, the rational mind, you know, the mind that wants to operate out of soundness, emotion, if it's not tempered, if it's not controlled, can really mess up your mindset, okay, so be careful, point number three was temper your emotions, can you please turn to Deuteronomy chapter 13, Deuteronomy chapter 13, please, Deuteronomy chapter 13, and while you're turning there, I'm just going to repeat the points that I have so far, number one, if you want to have a sound mind, you've got to settle biblical truths, number two, don't be hasty, number three, temper your emotions, okay, and number four, have factual, sorry, yeah, make, sorry, make factually based opinions, okay, or factually or evidence-based decisions or opinions, okay, when you decide something, you've got to have something factual, brethren, whether it's a black and white verse in the Bible, like I told you, or whether it's just other facts that you're dealing with, okay, this is important for sound mind, look at Deuteronomy chapter 13 verse 12, it says, if thou shalt hear, say in one of thy cities, which the Lord thy God have given thee to dwell there, saying, certain men, the children of Belial, are gone out from among you, and have withdrawn the inhabitants of their cities, saying, let us go and serve other gods, which ye have not known, alright, so if there's a situation, people come to you and tell you there are reprobates worshipping a false god, okay, they're not worshipping the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they're not worshipping the God of Israel, they're worshipping false gods, what are you meant to do? Well, it says there, in verse number 14, then shalt thou inquire, notice, you don't respond from that news, you're not just like, sorry, you don't just, oh man, they're worshipping the devil, let's go kill them, no, okay, that's not what you do, you don't act hastily, right, what do you do? Then shout out inquire, and make search, and ask diligently, so what are you saying, you've got to investigate, get the evidence, find out the facts, find out if this news you're hearing is true, and it says this, and behold, if it be true, and the thing certain, that such abomination is wrought among you, thou shalt surely smite inhabitants of that city with the edge of the sword, destroying it utterly, and all that is therein, and the cattle thereof with the edge of the sword. What's it teaching there? When we hear something, whether it's from the internet, whether it's from the news media, whether it's from your best friend, whether it's from church, hey, you ought to be diligent, make inquiry, search, right, find out is this truth, you're meant to do that every time someone preaches, you're meant to open up your Bible, and search diligently whether things you've heard are true, whether they are so, all right, this is important in order for us to have a sound mind, factually based opinions, you know, evidence-based decisions, say what are you talking about, and if I, you know, if I'm just having a fellowship with you guys, and I just say something like, you know, I believe if you have a Chilean ethnicity, you know, the Chilean ethnicity, if you've got that, you're the smartest people on this earth. I truly believe, you know, if you've got Chilean ethnicity, you're the smartest people on the earth. Say, Kevin, what's your, what are you basing that on? Is there some type of study? Is there some type of, is it factual? You know, it's like, no, I just believe that. What's gonna happen? You're gonna go, that Kevin is foolish, he's a moron, okay? Well, you believe something so strongly, but what are your facts? Does the Bible teach that? Black and white, not some cryptic verse? Does the Bible clearly teach that? Or do we have just some clear facts that is a true situation? Listen, you've got to be careful about how you speak and what you say, because, you know, we interact, all right? And it's easy to pass on foolishness. It's easy to say something foolish, and then someone else adopts that foolishness, and they parrot that foolishness. I don't want to have a church full of foolish people, is what I'm trying to say, okay? When we make decisions, consider the facts, do a search, inquire, work out, is this true, whatever it is, brethren, okay? You know what? Before I come behind the pulpit and preach something, I always go back to the Bible and say, God, show me a verse, show me enough. If I go, you know what? I would love to preach this, Lord, but I just don't have any verses. You know what I do? It gets edited out. It gets cut out, cut out of the sermon, okay? Because that could just be my strong opinion, but it's not based on anything, okay? And I'm not so much talking about preaching here. I'm talking about how we make decisions in life. They ought to be factually based, okay? There's nothing more frustrating than someone saying, man, I strongly believe. I believe this, and I believe that. Oh, what's your evidence behind that? Why do you believe that? Oh, I don't really know. I just believe it. Like, man, you're a fool. You're a fool, okay? You don't have a sound mind. You're operating out of emotions. You're operating out of fear. You know, you're not tapping into the Spirit of God. God does not want us to speak foolishly, okay? We ought to be people that are of the truth, that we have either facts, clear evidence, clear, whatever, or just statements from the Bible that are black and white that we stand on. You know, the Christian life isn't that hard. It can be challenging, you know? You know, we go through trials and difficulties, but, you know, at the end of the day, God's given us everything we need in His Word, okay, to make the right decisions we can make. He's given us His Holy Spirit. He's given us a perfect translation in the English Bible, the King James Bible. I mean, praise God, a lot of other people don't have that. You know, we have a perfect translation. What more do we need? You know, we have everything at our hands, brethren. We don't need to be people that fear. God has given us the power, okay? So He's given us the Spirit of power and of love and of a sound mind, okay? So the reason I'm preaching this, brethren, is I just don't want you to be afraid. And I don't know, maybe you say to me, I'm not even afraid. Praise God for you. Praise God for you, okay? That's awesome, okay? At the same time, I want you to operate, tap into the power of God, show love to the brethren, show love to God, and operate at a sound mind. Just go look, whatever it is that I believe, whatever it is that I teach, whatever it is that I say, I need to make sure that there's intelligence behind it, there's facts behind it, okay? Because otherwise, you're just allowing yourself to be empty minded, and being affected by other spirits like the spirit of fear or whatever other spirits might be out there in this realm and not being fully tapped into the Spirit of God. Can you please turn to Psalm 18? We're almost done. Psalm chapter 18 and verse number 4. Psalm chapter 18 and verse number 4. Let me just go and summarize very quickly. In order for us to overcome fear, we must fear God above all else. Number two, we must tap into God's power. And number three, we must develop a sound mind, okay? But Psalm 18, please, Psalm 18 and verse number 4. Psalm 18, verse number 4. It reads, the sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid. Once again, if you have fears, you're not unusual. We all experience fears. The Psalmist experienced fears, okay? But don't stay in that state of fear. Don't stay there. Verse number 5, the sorrows of hell compassed me about. The snares of death prevented me. What does the Psalmist do? Verse number 6. In my distress, I called upon the Lord and cried unto my God. He heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears. Reverend, let me just end on this one. You know, if you're afraid, if you have fears, whatever it is, maybe it's not even COVID-related, maybe it's just other fears that you have in life, Reverend. You know what? Just get a hold of God. You know, understand you're not unusual. It's normal to be afraid, okay? But God does not want us to remain in that state. He wants us to take a hold of him. He wants to cry to him. He wants us to bring out concerns and worries upon the Lord, and he's going to help us. He's going to help us. He knows what 2021 holds. He knows what 2022 holds. He knows the time of his, you know, when the Lord returns back. The Lord knows these things. We don't know those things, okay? There are things that are outside of our control, but they're within the control of God. Within the control of God. And so that's why we go to the Lord. That's why we cry unto him. The things that are out of our control. I'm not going to fear them. I'm going to say, Lord, I'm not going to fear these things that are out of my control. I'm going to leave them in your hands, Lord. You have all power. You have all authority in this earth. Yes, even authority of the devils, even authority over wicked governments. God has authority over all things, and I'm going to just trust in him. I'm going to tap into the Holy Spirit of God that I have within me. Okay, let's pray. Heavenly Father...