Fear vs. Faith – 5
The Forerunner of Fear
Matthew 14:25-31
We must understand that fear always brings bondage. Fear’s opposite, faith, always brings liberty. The way that we stay out of fear and into faith is something very simple. It is by not fearing. If I had the time today to read all the Scriptures in the Bible on “Fear Not,” you would realize how important it is to God to fear not. God commands us in Scripture not to fear.
Today, I want to talk about the forerunner of fear. A forerunner is something that prepares the way for someone or something. John the Baptist was the forerunner of Jesus Christ. He came to prepare the way for the Messiah. Fear has a forerunner and a sidekick and that sidekick is called doubt. Doubt is also translated as unbelief in the King James Version of the Bible.
Doubt is more than just a sidekick; it is an advance man or a forerunner. Doubt almost always makes an appearance in your thinking before fear comes along. Doubt’s job is to prepare you to receive Mr. Fear when he arrives.
One of the best Biblical examples of how doubt runs interference and results in fear can be found in our text.
Matthew 14:25-31; “Now in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went to them, walking on the sea. And when the disciples saw Him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, “It is a ghost!” And they cried out for fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “ Be of good cheer! It is I; do not be afraid.” And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “ Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus. But when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, “Lord, save me!” And immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and caught him, and said to him, “ O you of little faith, why did you doubt”
If you have spent any time in Sunday School as a child, you have heard this story of Jesus walking on the water. You have probably heard it preached 100 times or more. In these verses Jesus clearly attributed Peter’s fear and failure to doubt. The Bible says that when Peter saw the winds, he was afraid. When Jesus responds to Peter’s fear, he specifically says, “where did you doubt?” In other words, you were afraid, Peter, but at some point, in order to be afraid, you must have doubted me. Doubt is always the forerunner of fear.
Keep in mind that giving attention to the Word of the Lord puts you in the realm of the law of life. As long as Peter was focused on the Word of Jesus, “come,” he was able to operate in the realm of the miraculous. But when Peter shifted his focus to the waves and the wind, removing his focus from Jesus and the Word He has spoken, he stepped out of the law of life and entered the domain of sin and death. What was the result? Peter got wet and began to fear that he was going to drown.
What caused this shift in Peter’s focus? According to Jesus, doubt shifted Peter’s focus from faith to natural circumstances and that is why he was fearful of the winds and the waves. Doubt pulled up alongside of Peter and said, “Take a look at the size of those waves!” Then Peter, choosing to operate by his senses rather than the Word, paid attention to doubt and looked at the waves. Then, doubt whispered, “You’re a pretty good swimmer, but if you were to sink in wind and waves like these, you surely would drown!”
At this point, the forerunner, doubt, had done his job. Peter was primed and ready for fear to make its appearance. Peter was no longer focused on Jesus and the Word He had spoken. He had moved from faith to doubt and from doubt to fear. All that was left for him to do was yell, “Help!”
In the same way, many believers got hold of a little bit of the Word and begin to learn how to walk on top of the waves of their circumstances. As long as they focus on Jesus and what is in the Word and focus on the covenant they have with the Lord, they walk in victory. What they do not realize is that the devil will use the same tactic that he used on Peter. The demonic forces will try to get them into doubt so that fear can have an invitation to enter. Peter fired faith half way to Jesus and re-hired fear, and so do many Christians.
Satan has used this tactic with mankind every since the beginning of time.
I. THE ORIGIN OF DOUBT AND FEAR
Adam and Eve had a Word from God telling them they could eat of all the trees in the Garden except one. Eating of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil would be absolute disobedience to God’s Word and rebellion against the Most High. This act of disobedience brought death into the world, which God had warned them about from the beginning.
Genesis 2:16-17; ¶ “And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, “Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die”
The way that Satan approached Eve was to cast doubt on God’s Word.
Genesis 3:1; ¶ “Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, “Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’”
Satan was saying, “Did God really say that? Come on, Eve are you really sure that is what He said?”
Adam and Eve listened to Satan and then acted on the doubt and disbelief in God that had been seeded into their minds. Once they moved into doubt, they were easy prey for sin. As always, the end result of sin and disobedience is death and bondage to fear.
Genesis 3:9-10; ¶ “Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?”
So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself”
Fear took root in Adam’s life because of disobedience to the Word of God. The devil wants you to doubt God’s promises. The devil wants you to doubt God’s faithfulness. The devil wants you to doubt the power of the Word and the power in the name of Jesus. He knows that when you are in doubt, the door is wide open for fear. When you are into fear, you have moved right back under the domain of the law of sin and death. Then you have problems.
Perhaps you have made that journey from doubt to fear. If so, you probably are sinking right now. You may be sinking in debt, you may be sinking in sickness, you may be sinking in marital or family problems. Whatever the case, I have good news for you. Jesus is as merciful and patient today as He was in Peter’s day. Cry out, “Lord, save me.” Then make up your mind to get your focus back on Jesus and the Bible. Choose to operate only in the law of life in Christ Jesus. It is time that you make up your mind and say, “I will no longer be moved by what I hear, see or feel, I will be moved by faith.”
Smith Wigglesworth once said; “I am not moved by what I see. I am not moved by what I feel. I am only moved by what I believe.”
The key to maintaining that position of faith is to resist doubt. If the devil cannot get you to doubt God’s promises and His Word, fear does not stand a chance. As long as Peter was focused on Jesus telling Him to come to Him, then he rose above the winds and waves.
When you get a Word from God, hold on to it like a pit bull grips a piece of meat and never turn loose. Symptoms and circumstances may be screaming for attention. Doubt may be shouting in your ear. But, no matter what is going on, stay in and on the Word.
If your stormy sea is financial, get a Word like, “God will supply all my needs according to His riches in glory.” (Philippians 4:19)
If you find yourself in a hurricane of sickness, latch onto, “I am the Lord that healeth thee,” (Exodus 15:26) and do not let go.
Resist doubt; resist it with everything inside you. If you can remain standing on the Word of God, the victory is yours.
Do not walk in fear. Do not allow doubt to take place in your thoughts and in your life and open yourself up to fear and disaster. The question remains, how do I not allow doubt in my life, it is just there? There is nothing I can do about it. It is simple:
II. YOU MUST MAKE A DECISION
You must decide once and for all to uproot the destructive spirit of fear from your life. Doing that requires a firm decision. Why should I do it? Because God’s Word tells us over and over again that we are to fear not. We read a bunch of Scriptures last week concerning fear not. All the Scriptures that we read last week are covenant statements.
Isaiah 43:5: “Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your descendants from the east, And gather you from the west”
Isaiah 41:10; ¶ “Fear not, for I am with you; Be not dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you, Yes, I will help you, I will uphold you with My righteous right hand”
When we begin to understand the strength of our covenant with God and get an illumination of His covenant faithfulness, you will not be afraid, even in the most overwhelming of situations.
Why do you think David had such confidence when he was fighting against Goliath? Look at what he shouted at the giant: I Samuel 17:26; “…for who is this uncircumcised Philistine, that he should defy the armies of the living God?”
Why is this statement of such significance? Circumcision was the sign of the Abrahamic covenant with God. David was saying, “I have a covenant with Almighty God, this guy does not. I don’t care how big he is, he does not stand a chance against me.” David was not a prideful individual that knew he could beat any kid up on the playground. David simply knew that he had covenant with God and he wasn’t afraid because nothing could touch him because of His covenant.
That is precisely the attitude that God wants you to have. God wants us to have this kind of humility or confidence in God, that is what humility is. In order to have this kind of confidence, you must recognize that you too have a covenant with God. Your covenant is better then David’s and has better promises:
Hebrews 8:6; ¶ “But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.”
The blood of bulls and goats backed up David’s covenant. The very blood of Jesus Himself backs our covenant. Also, you have the mighty name of Jesus Christ backing you up. We have all the authority and power of Jesus Christ.
Philippians 2:8-11; “And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God also has highly exalted Him and given Him the name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, and of those on earth, and of those under the earth, and that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father”
Make a firm decision today to not live in fear and to live in your covenant.
