Jesus Christ commanded the church to fear not Fear is mentioned in the Bible over 600 times It's no small subject in the Word of God From Genesis to Revelation Abraham to John on the Isle of Patmos we hear that commandment given over and over fear not That command was given to Abraham That command was given to Israel that command was given to Moses It was given to David who ran from Saul for years who lived in caves before he became a king That command was given to Daniel who was going into the Lions Den That command was given to the city of Jerusalem the angel Gabriel gave that message to Mary to Peter who was sinking in the swirling tide of the Sea of Galilee To Paul who had been on a ship for 14 days and it looked like all would be lost The angel of the Lord appeared and said fear not fear not, fear not Every time you see in the Bible fear not Which is all over the Bible. Fear not for I am with you fear not for I am with you fear not for I am with you Fear not for I will never leave you nor forsake you That's the main reason That the Bible gives for us not fearing is to know that God is with us and that if he's with us He loves us and he will take care of us that God says over and over fear not For I am with you, remember Not talking about not having the feeling of fear. We're talking about not letting it stop you We can't live our lives in fear And dread of what's going on and what's going to happen Satan wants us to shrink back in fear and live little tiny useless lives But God wants us to be brave and bold Do not be afraid It is said in different ways different variations But it's basically the same thing fear not do not be afraid Be fearless Fear ye not Over and over and over again in different ways.
God wants to say to us the exact same thing in fact It is so critical and so important to him that he gets to the New Testament and Paul writes a letter to a young man named Timothy and he says Tim This is what you need to know that he has not given us a spirit of fear He says of all the important things Timothy that you need to know in your life and in this ministry that God is sending you through - as you go through things in this journey of life that you will inevitably Go through he says would you remember that what our God does not give is fear. He gives power and love and a sound mind Fear is a real thief in our lives Isaiah 41:10 says fear not there's nothing to fear. Well, isn't that interesting for I am with you That's the only answer he gives because I'm with you and so if we really know who the Lord is I'm not talking about just going to church but I mean if you really know who the Lord is Then we don't have to know what he's going to do.
We don't have to know when he's going to do it We don't have to know what the way is going to be. We just say Lord I know you're with me and therefore I can do what I need to do Because when fear causes you to stop and to do nothing, it's the master spirit I believe that the enemy uses to try to keep us from fulfilling our destiny And so he tells us there's no way he says you you got to be afraid of this, you know If you failed before then you got to be afraid that you're gonna fail again, but God says fear not For I am with you. I love that.
There's nothing to fear. Do not look around you in terror and be dismayed, you know, it's one of our problems. We look around us too much instead of looking up The more you stare at your problems, the more you rehearse your problems the bigger, they're gonna get Every time you go through something difficult.
It makes you a little bit stronger just a little bit stronger Fear is a fact of life Fear of the future, fear of danger, fear of the past others fear the loss of their job, the loss of your health There's a sudden and unexplainable pain and it brings fear to your mind Some of you fear the loss of position, the loss of self-esteem You fear failure, you fear the criticism of other people, you fear exposure, you fear being disliked, there's a fear of death. There's the fear of the unknown The era of human history is the era of anxiety and fear When the fear knocks at your door Send faith to answer and no one will be there. Isaiah wrote I will trust and I will not be afraid.
We have to understand that fear First of all is a demonic spirit it's not from God. I think it's the enemy's favorite Tool in his toolbox The sole purpose of which is to keep us from making progress and going forward Fears whole design is to stop you in your tracks or to drive you back where you came from Instead of You going forward and becoming all that God wants you to be If we believe that our God does not give a spirit of fear But you find or I find in my life that there is a spirit of fear attached to something specific in your life or in your journey An opportunity that you're intimidated by A relationship an endeavor a ministry An interest of yours that just seems to cause you to feel a little bit paralyzed and insecurity of or fear If you and I know what we know now based on the Scriptures that God does not give fear But you sense that there is a spirit of fear attached to something in your life And you know God didn't give it that means you know who did And if the enemy has placed a spirit of fear on something in your life it must mean that he is trying his best to keep you away from something And if he's trying to keep you away from it that must mean there's something in it that he does not want you to have He wants you and had to be so paralyzed so crippled so disarmed so disinterested from the very thing that he knows is exactly what God wants to take you through So that he can bring you to a new place in him Do not be afraid A believer in Jesus Christ can only have one attitude toward fear and this must be their attitude. I will not fear.
I will not fear Fear prevents forward progress Is there anyone here who ever feels like that you have let fear keep you from doing what you know you were supposed to be doing I beg you not to give up but to press through and to be all that God wants you to be Do all that he wants you to do So you can have all that he wants you to have The reason why you have no reason to be afraid my friend as God calls you to go here or do that or go through this particular thing in your life. It's not because you're so capable It's not because you're so prepared it is because you have a daddy who loves you He has already gone behind the scenes. He has already orchestrated and manipulated events and people and circumstances so that all he needs is a woman that's willing to say Yes, Lord and stand there at the plate of His grace and his glory in his Calling on your life and to do what he's called you to do and if you and I will just do it We will realize we've been set up to hit a home run every single time So if right now there is something crippling you the enemy is working overtime to cause you to be afraid in your life Will you hear this message from the Holy Spirit today step up to the plate do not be afraid Your God has got your back.
If God is for us Then what difference does it make Really who's against us Because God is certainly greater than anything or anybody that could come against us and you know I think that where we get into trouble is we believe that God is for other people But are we sure that he's for us Can I tell you something you having a problem is not a sign that God doesn't care It does not mean that God doesn't see you it does not mean that he does not care about you He wants to help you in your time of need and trouble. We give the enemy access to our lives through fear and we give God access to our life through faith We don't have to be afraid of things God will take care of us Whatever's coming up in your future, even the stuff that you don't know about.
