2 Timothy 1:7 reads, "For God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. " Fear is not of God. Rather, it is one of the most efficient weapons in the hand of the devil to war against the heart of believers.
In fact, the Bible says that fear is a spirit. It makes people to feel defeated even before the day of battle. So the devil will always attempt to captivate our hearts with fear knowing that anyone who fears is held captive by whatever he or she fears.
And so many people are scared of the signs of the end time. So many children of God are living in fear regarding the days we are living in. Are you instilled with fearful emotions each time you hear about the wars, earthquakes, famines, natural disasters?
Jesus made it clear that all of these things will be part of the last days, the perilous times. Matthew 24:6-8. And ye shall hear of wars and rumors of wars.
See that ye be not troubled, for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.
What you need to focus on is Jesus, the author and the finisher of your faith. You are constantly hearing rumors of wars. You are constantly hearing about people dying.
But rather than focusing on the darkness that is filled in this world, focus on the glorious light of Jesus Christ. Because if it wasn't for the Lord Jesus Christ, this world would only be full of corruption and darkness. If it wasn't for the Lord Jesus Christ, this world would only be full of immorality and darkness.
If it wasn't for the Lord Jesus Christ, this world would only be full of wickedness and darkness. Jesus Christ is light. And how the world needs light.
The world needs the glorious light of Jesus Christ. We need him, my friend, more than we know. Look to Jesus.
Don't fill yourself up with things that will pump you with fear. Look into the glorious light of Jesus Christ and comfort yourself with the scriptures. Romans 15:4 says, "For whatsoever things were written a for time were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope.
" All the prophecies recorded in the Bible about the end time and all the events that will characterize it were written for our learning. God will not have us being ignorant about his plans. Therefore, as he reveals them to his prophets, they put them into records so that the council of God might be passed from one generation to the other.
The purpose for documenting the last days events is not to instill fear in us. They were written for our knowledge. You see, nothing instills fear into a person more than ignorance.
When you do not know something, you will be afraid of it. Fear of the unknown has destroyed more lives than we can account for. But God in his word has told us what will happen in the last days.
So we may know what is happening and we can expect it. Everything that is happening in the world today is exactly what Jesus told us would happen in Matthew 24. Listen to the words of Jesus in Matthew 24.
For nation shall rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there shall be famines and pestilences and earthquakes in diverse places. All these are the beginning of sorrows. Are we not seeing nation rise against nation?
Have we not seen the emergence of pestilences in the last 3 years? Are we not seeing a rise in earthquakes? Jesus describes all these things as the beginning of sorrows.
Jesus told us these things would happen, not for us to live in fear, but for us to see the signs. To see the signs that history is moving. History is not stationary, but history is moving towards his coming.
Jesus did not leave you and I in the dark, but he told us what will happen. And we can see the prophecy of Jesus Christ in Matthew 24 quite literally, quite literally unfold before our eyes. But my point is simple today.
My point is straightforward and my point is simply this. Although we are living in the beginning of sorrows, although Matthew 24 is unfolding before our eyes, we don't have to live in fear. Why not, preacher?
The answer is simple. You and I, Bible believers, know how the story will end for you. Revelation 21 1-4.
Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride, beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Look, God's dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them.
They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.
Look at this one statement. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. Whatever happens in this world, whatever pain you may experience, whatever heartbreak you may experience, you need to know that God God will one day wipe your tears away.
Realize you are chosen and beloved of God. First Peter 2:9. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood and holy nation, a peculiar people, that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
We mean more to God than our hearts have ever conceived. You may mean nothing to this world. You may mean nothing more than a social security number to this world.
You may be nothing more than a statistic. You may be nothing more than an employee at your workplace. An employee that they could replace in a heartbeat if anything ever happened to you.
But you mean everything to God. Everything to God. You mean so much to him that he is willing to die for us.
We didn't choose God first. He was the one that chose us and made us royal priests and a peculiar people to himself. God called us out of darkness that he might bring us into his marvelous light.
He rescued us from the world into his glorious kingdom. Your fear about the end time will come to an end the moment you realize that God chose you by himself and that you are the apple of his eyes. God did not choose us to destroy us.
He chose us that we might be saved and live with him throughout all eternity. Don't focus on this world. Focus on eternity.
For all of eternity, you will be in a land of peace. For all of eternity, you will live in a place where there is no recessions. For all of eternity, you will live in a place where no one will have to struggle to make ends meet.
For all of eternity, you will live in a place where there is no cost of living crisis. God will be your provider. For all of eternity, you live in a place where there is no war or rumors of war or no threat of war.
For all of eternity, you will live in a place where there is nothing but health. For all of eternity, I look forward to that. I look forward to a place where there is no graveyard.
A place where there is no death. That place is heaven. The darker the world gets, the more I think about heaven.
Your hope should be in heaven and not this world. We don't need to fear what would become of us at the end time if we are in Christ. The fear of the end time is not for us.
We are the beloved of God and his love casts out all fear. He that fears is not yet made perfect in the love of God. All you need to do in this end time is to remind yourself of the love of God and your fears will give way.
God will never allow us to be tried more than we can bear. He knows our capacity and he will never come late to our rescue. In Hebrews 13:5, God promised never to leave us nor forsake us.
Rather than fear the future, we are called to anticipate the future with joy. The reason is because we that are in Christ will be caught up at rapture to meet the Lord in the air and to abide with him forever. The Bible says that the joy of the Lord is our strength.
The joy that we have only a little time left in the world should strengthen us to walk consistently with the Lord. As soon as the trumpet sounds, we shall be caught up from this sinful world. And our greatest joy is that we will never experience sorrow anymore.
