1. “Fear Not” is repeated in the bible 365 times in one form or another. FEAR is a big deal to us and God
2. It seems we all have some kind of fear
a. Claustrophobia – Fear of confined Spaces
b. Agoraphobia- Fear of open spaces or of being in crowded
c. Globophobia – Fear of Balloons
d. Peladophobia: fear of baldness and bald people
e. Chaetophobia: fear of hair or hairy people
f. Phobophobia: fear of being afraid
g. Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia – Fear of Long Words
3. Philippians 4.4-7
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. The Lord is at hand; 6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
4. [“Don’t be afraid” video clip
5. Graduates, I want to encourage you to go forward in the confidence of the LORD, not the fear of men.
I. The Certainty of Fear
• Healthy fear of God can refer either to the awe, reverence, and respect that is the proper deferential attitude toward the divine, or the physical dread and terror evoked by the divine presence or by the experience of divine wrath.
• Unhealthy fear includes anxiety, dread, and loss of courage in the face of an unpleasant or dangerous situation.
• Unhealthy fear is a tool of the adversary
A. Fear is a Big Deal Because It Makes God Look Bad
1. It makes God look weak
2. It makes God look uncaring
3. It makes God look distant
4. It makes God look untruthful
B. Personifying Fear
1. Fear is a Bully of Intimidation – 1 Peter 5.8 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
2. Fear is a Liar [song by Zach Williams
When he told you you're not good enough
When he told you you're not right
When he told you you're not strong enough
To put up a good fight
When he told you you're not worthy
When he told you you're not loved
When he told you you're not beautiful
That you'll never be enough
Fear, he is a liar
He will take your breath
Stop you in your steps
Fear he is a liar
He will rob your rest
Steal your happiness
Cast your fear in the fire
'Cause fear he is a liar
3. Fear is a Thief – John 10.10
Robs us of joy and life
Stops us in our tracks – Peter on Water – Matthew 14.30-34
II. The Conquest of Fear
A. We Conquer Fear with Joy (Philippians 4.4)
4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.
1. Repeated
2. Judah first – Judges 20.18
B. We Conquer Fear with Reasonableness (4.5a)
5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone.
Forbearance/Gentleness/Moderation/Patience
C. We Conquer Fear with the Presence of the LORD (4.5b)
The Lord is at hand;
1. Why we rejoice IN the LORD
2. Isaiah 41.8-10 (especially v. 10)
8 But you, Israel, my servant,
Jacob, whom I have chosen,
the offspring of Abraham, my friend;
9 you whom I took from the ends of the earth,
and called from its farthest corners,
saying to you, “You are my servant,
I have chosen you and not cast you off”;
10 fear not, for I am with you;
be not dismayed, for I am your God;
I will strengthen you, I will help you,
I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
3. Daniel and the Three Hebrew Boys
D. We Conquer Fear with Prayer -- “Intimacy with God for HIS Purposes” (4.6)
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
1. Supplication – seeking God in regard to needs
2. Thanksgiving – gratitude as an act of worship
3. Requests – seeking God in regard to wants
E. The Conquest (4.7)
7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
1. Peace of God – Chaos and Shalom
2. Guards/Keeps Hearts and Minds – Protect as Military
1. Every day we must decide if we are going to be ruled by fear or by faith. Some years ago a nine-year-old boy from a small town in South Oklahoma called the police and told them that he had shot and killed his father. When the police arrived they found the man’s body in a tool shed still holding an ax handle that he used to BEAT the boy and his six-year-old sister. When questioned why he killed his father the boy cried, “I was TIRED of being AFRAID!”
2. Remember: 2 Timothy 1.7 (“God has not given us a spirit of fear. . .”); Romans 8.14-17
14 For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God. 15 For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!” 16 The Spirit himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, 17 and if children, then heirs—heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, provided we suffer with him in order that we may also be glorified with him.
