Title: Fear vs. Faith - 7
“Three Weapons Against Fear”
Text: II Timothy 1:7
“For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind”
President and Mrs. Benjamin Harrison were so intimidated by the newfangled electricity installed in the White House they didn't dare touch the switches. If there were no servants around to turn off the lights when the Harrisons went to bed, they slept with them on.
We have discovered over the past few years that fear is a stronghold in many people’s lives. It seems as though just when I think I have preached everything there is to preach on fear, more information just bombards my minute mind.
We only have a few weeks left of this year and my goal throughout the remainder of this year is bring home the fact that God wants us to be free from the spirit of fear in our lives. There are three weapons that I want to share with you in our attack against fear.
I. MAKE A QUALITY DECISION
In order to break free from fear, we must first make a quality decision to do it. That may seem obvious to some; however, it is precisely where many people miss it. They never come to a point in their life that they say, “This is it. I will not live another day under this yoke of bondage. This ends here and now.”
Hebrews 13:5-6; “For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you." 6 So we may boldly say: "The LORD is my helper; I will not fear. What can man do to me?"
As I was in study this week I found a passage in Psalm where David says in:
Psalm 118:6; “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: What can man do unto me?”
Did you see what David said in that Psalm? Hundreds of years earlier David makes the same declaration that Paul did. I will not fear! We know by this statement that he knew that fearing or not fearing involved an act of the will.
Many believers are setting around waiting for God’s power to strike them like a bolt of lightning so they can be free of fear. Others are waiting for some mystical force to rise up inside them. All the time, God is just waiting for someone who is willing to take the first step and that is the step of choosing. You are the one who has to make a choice. You have to choose if you will trust God or let fear of circumstances and man dominate you. It is your choice. It is entirely up to you.
You got into fear by an act of your will, whether you realize it or not, and you will only get out of fear in the same way. Receiving fear and getting rid of fear both require your cooperation and your will. You choose to accept or reject fear the moment you are attacked by it. Fear does not have the right to usurp authority over a human being who has made the decision to live above fear. Once you have made the decision to live with fear no longer, it cannot reenter your life without an act of your will authorizing it to do so. How do you authorize fear? You give it authority in your life by listening to and pondering on devilish words of doubt and unbelief. You cannot allow words in your mind that cause you to be fearful. You will be attacked by fear from time to time but it is what you do with that attack that determines what your outcome will be!
I have begun to condition myself to immediately shut out words or images that the devil might use to attempt to produce fear in me. I have chosen to rid my life of fear, and I have chosen to stay free from fear in every avenue of my life. It is important for you to understand that freedom begins with an act of your will; you must make a decision to live free from fear. It is your choice.
Let’s look again at the verse that we have been talking about: Psalm 118:6; “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear: what can man do to me?”
Notice what prompted David to say, “I will not fear.” It was the fact that the Lord was on his side. If you could truly believe that statement about the Lord then you would never fear again.
Try to remember a situation in which you responded with fear. Now, ask yourself a question: If you truly believed God was on your side, would you have handled that situation the way you did? Would you have allowed fear to grip your life? No way! There is not a chance. When you believe that God is on your side, you are calm, confident and relaxed. Just knowing that God has your back at all times is a liberating fact. However, you may be one of those people that wonder if God is really on your side at all. If you are saved by the precious blood of Jesus Christ, then the answer is definitely, absolutely yes. He is on your side. There is no one on the face of the earth that will defend you with the same conviction that Jesus defends you. He will watch over you better than any parent can, better then any Pastor can. Jesus Christ is the One that truly matters in your life. The Apostle Paul said in:
Romans 8:31-32; “What can we ever say to such wonderful things as these? If God is on our side, who can ever be against us? Since He did not spare even His own Son for us, but gave Him up for us all, won’t He also surely give us everything else?”
Jesus Christ is on your side. We need to start acting like it! Make a decision to be free from fear. The second weapon is:
II. UNDERSTAND THE MAGNITUTE OF GOD’S PROTECTION
Isaiah 43:1-2; “But now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not; for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.” (The Living Bible)
This is excellent news for the believer. Not only does God’s protection keep you from being consumed or overtaken by disaster, violence, sickness or financial distress, it will also keep you from being affected by those things. When you walk through a fiery trial, not only will you not be burned, but you will not even come out smelling like smoke. When you truly comprehend the magnitude of His protection, you will NEVER have reason to fear again.
Notice with me what this verse does not say. It does not say that you will not go through the fire. Some Christians have come to believe they should never have to face a trial or a problem. Some believe that I have been preaching in a way that I am telling you that you can live free from problems. That is the truth. I preach that you can live above your problems and be free from your problems. That does not mean that you will never have any problems, that just means that the problems don’t have you. Those that believe you should never go through a trial or battle are in for a big surprise. Trials and troubles will come as long as you are in this world, but they don’t have to plague you and grip you.
John 16:33; “I have told you all this so that you will have peace of heart and mind. Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows; but cheer up, I have overcome the world.” (The Living Bible)
Jesus never promised that we would not have problems. Nothing could be further from the truth. However, He did promise that we could be victorious over those same problems because He has already overcome the world. He is our protector and our shield. Nothing shall by any means harm me. That causes me to be free from fear!
I do not know what kind of fire you may be going through right now, but God said you could walk through it without even being singed. You can walk through crises without any signs of worry. You can walk through trouble with no extra gray hairs, no ulcers, and no headaches. You can walk through a tidal wave of difficult times and come out dry as a bone. You can face a fierce battle and not have one battle wound.
Notice what else the passage in Isaiah tells us. In it, God said, “I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine.” Imagine that! God has literally laid claim to you. He has laid claim to you, just as I have laid claim to every one of my children. What do you think would happen if I turned around for a second and found someone trying to bother my child in a wrong way? What do you think would happen? I am a lover, not a fighter, but if someone tries to lay claim to my child in my place or tries to harm my child, I would be there in a flash. I would say, “No sir, in order to get to her or to him, you will have to come through me!” No way would I ever allow one evil thing to befall my children.
Now, when they get to be more mature, there are decisions that they have to make. If they make the wrong decisions in life, some trouble might come upon them, but it won’t be because of me, hopefully. I would never intentionally put trouble on my children. There are so many times that we give earthly parents more credit then our heavenly Father. He works the same way, which is why He calls Himself our heavenly Father.
When the reality that God feels that way about you sinks down into your spirit and becomes a part of your understanding, fear will have an awful hard time getting a foothold in your life. Knowing this will make you bold. Knowing that God loves you that passionately will set you free from fear.
God has claimed you for His own possession. That means He has taken personal responsibility for your care and your protection. You will stay in that protection all the days of your life unless you choose to walk out from under it of your own free will. That sets us free from fear. But we must truly understand that He protects us and how far that protection goes. The third weapon we have is:
III. THE LOVE OF CHRIST
You can’t get away from the love of God and it is interesting that the Scripture says that the true way to rid fear from our lives to have the love of Christ.
I John 4:18; “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear: because fear hath torment. He that fears is not made perfect in love.”
The Scripture also declares that no matter what you do, you can’t get away from the love of Jesus:
Romans 8:35-39; “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. 37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. 38 For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, 39 Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Knowing the love that Christ has for you is sure to set you free from fear.
