Sermon: Breakthrough from Fear!
Illustration: The story from Outreach Church and the bat from the balcony!
Opening Quote:
“Everyone experiences fear in their life. There are big fears we are very aware of and little ones we may not even realize we have. I've learned that it's very important to understand what fear is and how it works against us because if we don't, it can keep us from becoming what God created us to be, which means we won't fulfill our purpose in life…Fear is a tool the devil uses against us to make us miserable and destroy our lives. It begins as a thought and then creates emotions that can rule us…Simply put, fear is the opposite of faith. God wants us to walk by faith, and Satan wants us to walk by fear. When we learn to live by faith and not let fear rule our life, we can live a fulfilling, satisfying, peaceful and joyful life in Christ…Like I said before, fear begins with a thought. Proverbs 23:7 tells us that "as [a man] thinks in his heart, so is he" (NKJV). I like to say it like this: Where the mind goes, the man follows.”
Quote from https://joycemeyer.org/everydayanswers/ea-teachings/the-key-to-overcoming-every-fear-you-face
Thesis: In 1 John 4 - John gives us three actions that are to be a part of the children of God’s daily lives so they fulfill the will of God for their lives. 1st we are to Test the spirit’s, 2nd Know Love and show love, and 3rd Fear not.
Thought for today: For us to overcome fear and fear not – will require us to do step one and two of John’s directions in this chapter. You cannot defeat fear without a connection to God in love and you cannot connect with God if you are deceived by evil or humanistic spirits. Deceiving spirits are in this world to lead you away from God – away from Love – WHY? - so fear can overrun your life and cripple you.
Scripture Text: 1 John 4:1-21:
1Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 2This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, 3but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world. 4You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. 5They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. 6We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood. 7Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 8Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. 9This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 12No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. 13We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. 15If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. 16And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. 17In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. 18There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love. 19We love because he first loved us. 20If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. 21And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.
Introduction:
John tells us in 1 John 4 that the Christian must make the commitment to practice the three daily spiritual disciplines. It’s these three disciplines that will keep us were God wants us and connected with His will and way. These three practices will help us to mature in our faith and keep us from being deceived – from losing the purpose of life which is knowing love and showing love – and from losing hope and giving up in the journey of life.
T.S. - So, let’s look at the first spiritual discipline which leads to deliverance from fear:
I. We are to test the Spirits to see if they are from God or not (4:1-6)
a. Testing measures how much a person knows or doesn’t know.
i. Timothy Peck in his sermon “Getting Our Bearings” states this about verse 1:That word "test" means "to try to learn the genuineness of something by close examination" (Lou and Nida, Greek English Lexicon Based on Semantic Domains, 27.45).
1. Peck states, “John’s is warning us that before we trust any spiritual experience, any religious leader, or any religious group we must first test them, dig beneath the surface, look closely, to determine whether it’s a snow job or the real thing” (sermoncentral.com).
2. McDowell states, “Only 15% of churched youth disagree with the statement: ‘What is right for one person in a given situation might not be right for another person who encounters the same situation.’ In other words, 85 percent of un-churched kids are liable to reason, ‘Just because it’s wrong for you doesn’t mean it’s wrong for me.’ Their idea of the distinction between right and wrong is fluid, something that is subject to change, something that is relative and personal-not constant and universal” (Page 15, Right from Wrong).
3. Many today in our society have not learned the importance and the eternal value of making sure you test the messages of the spirits in this age.
a. Result: Therefore, many have become deceived and cling to false hopes.
b. This is why we must know what the Bible says. The Scripture helps us to discern whether a spirit is from God or not.
i. The measurement of right and wrong: If it’s not from God it will:
1. Not acknowledge the divinity and humanity of Jesus Christ.
2. It will speak from the view point of the world not the from a Biblical view point.
ii. We can tell if a message is from the Lord or not by how well they listen to the truths of Scripture.
1. John warns us to not be gullible in this life but be wise and we do this by not believing everything a person says without first comparing their message against the standard and the truth of the Word.
ii. The measurement to see if something is true or false is asking does it align with the teachings of Scripture?
1. Quote by Josh McDowell from his book Right From Wrong.
a. He states, “You’ll recall Webster first defines truth as, ‘fidelity to an original or standard.” The dictionary goes on to define truth as ‘the body of real things’, events, or facts; the property of being in accordance with fact or reality.”
i. He notes that truth provides evidence that it is true and not false. Truth promotes truth and the right way of doing things.
ii. He adds, “I believe that one of the prime reasons this generation is setting new records for dishonesty, disrespect, sexual promiscuity, violence, suicide, and other pathologies, is because they have lost their moral underpinning; their foundational belief in morality and truth has been eroded. As journalist Rowland Nethaway said, they ‘don’t seem to know right from wrong’”(12).
b. The point from John is that truth matters in or lives. If we live by the truth then our life is blessed by God. If we believe and live by the lies of this world our lives will be cursed and fruitless.
i. Even if they are religious!
1. Many have fallen for religious teachings that do not align with the Word of God.
a. The Christians have not compared what they have said and taught against the teachings of the Word.
b. Therefore, they bought into lies and they think they are speaking truth when they are not.
c. Result is deception and the removal of the blessings of God.
2. Some in the Christian church itself have fallen prey to false teachings that have caused division and strife.
T.S. – We are to daily test the spirits that we encounter in our lives to see if they align with God’s Word or not. Then we must do the next action and that is to love others like the Lord loves us.
II. We are to love others because we know God’s love (4:7-16).
a. Charles Salmon notes this about our chapter: Love is a very popular idea in today’s world. We distort and misinterpret it, but it is on everyone’s lips. Many of our most popular songs, books, and movies are about love. There are enough to fill a library.
i. We often forget love is a truly Christian idea. It is seen in its fullness only in Christ. Love originated in the mind of God, of whom it is written, "God is love." But, often what the world calls love is vastly different from what God in Christ revealed love to be. The world describes love as a feeling, an overwhelming passion. God says it is a guiding principle of moral life. Love is the light by which the Christian makes the moral decisions of His life.
ii. I sometimes sit back and get very frustrated with the views of the world’s residents. I watch what is promoted on most of the TV shows of today and I say, “What is wrong with those people?” I even comment, “That is not the way of the Lord!” Then I have to be gently reminded by the Holy Spirit that those people are blind, lost, and they have a distorted lens that they look through. Why? Because they do not have true Love in their lives. They don’t know God or His ways therefore they do not have the ability to see clearly.
b. Rick Warren in his book The Purpose Driven Life says, “Life is all about love!” “Because God is love, the most important lesson he wants you to learn on earth is how to love. It is in loving that we are most like him, so love is the foundation of every command he has given us; ‘the whole Law can be summed up in this one command; ‘Love others as you love yourself” (123).
i. John in our letter makes it clear that love is attained by us as we encounter and get to know God.
ii. A person who claims to have known Jesus will also know how to love others.
c. Knowing God gives us the ability to love.
i. Without experiencing God’s love in our lives we do not know how to love.
1. There is no love outside of God!
a. We today have redefined that word love to mean a human emotion but the truth is love is defined as God.
i. This means love demonstrates the qualities and attributes of God.
ii. This means that the love of today is a counterfeit to the true meaning of love.
b. God who is love will never fail us abandon us or let us down. It’s a impossibility!
i. This thought here should compel us that we will not fail if we keep love at the center of our life.
ii. Really what John is saying to us is, knowing love causes us to do and show love toward others.
1. We do this even when people do not deserve it too!
2. The truth is God’s love should come before everything else in our life.
a. Love will always tell us to not be offended.
b. Love will always tell us to forgive and forget.
c. Love will always tell us to let it go.
d. Love will tell us to act like Jesus not like Satan.
e. Love will tells us to die to self and serve others in love.
f. Love will tell us not to get angry.
g. Love will tells us to trust the lord and not circumstances.
h. Love will tell us not to sin.
i. Love will tell us to serve the Lord with all our might.
j. Love will always point us toward the Lord Jesus and His great action of love.
i. Peter Gillquist states, “Psychologists tell us that man has two basic needs: to love and be loved. They’re right, but their order should be reversed. According to the patterns of Scripture, we first must be loved; then we are capable of loving” (Love Now, page 75).
iii. If we don’t love we don’t know God.
1. This is a hard saying but it is Scriptural!
2. Since God is love we must take on His very nature and love like He does.
T.S. – We have to experience love and then master the action of love because that is the nature of God. Then when love is practiced daily it has the power to cast out fear.
III. We are to understand that love casts out all fear and we are to fear not (4:17-21)
a. Dope on a Rope (motivation to overcome fear)
i. There once was this criminal who had committed a crime (Because, hey, that’s what criminals do. That’s their job!) Anyway, he was sent to the king for his punishment. The king told him he had a choice of two punishments. He could be hung by a rope. Or take what’s behind the big, dark, scary, mysterious iron door. The criminal quickly decided on the rope. As the noose was being slipped on him, he turned to the king and asked: “By the way, out of curiosity, what’s behind that door?” The king laughed and said: “You know, it’s funny, I offer everyone the same choice, and nearly everyone picks the rope.” “So,” said the criminal, “Tell me. What’s behind the door? I mean, obviously, I won’t tell anyone,” he said, pointing to the noose around his neck. The king paused then answered: “Freedom, but it seems most people are so afraid of the unknown that they immediately take the rope.”
1. From https://www.notsalmon.com/2015/04/28/overcome-fear/
b. Fear – that 4 letter word!
i. Fear is the number one opposition to you living the kind of life God wants you to live – fears unchecked – untamed – unrestrained will cause you stop and turn away from the path of life you are on.
1. Fear will hinder and cripple your life – fear desires to unravel your faith and your joy.
ii. According to some of my education psychology books there are literally 100’s of way to be afraid and to allow fear to change our daily lives:
1. There are over 530 documented phobia’s – so it is possible that you could fear something different each day of the year!
a. 325 days of fear wow – that’s terrorizing!
b. But you could go on into the next year and experience a different fear for another 2/3 of the year with 205 more to terrorize you.
c. I am sure that we could add 531 and add Coronavirus to the phobia list now too.
i. Coronaphobia!
1. Interesting side note – In Chaldean Numerology - The numerical value of Corona in Chaldean Numerology is: 7
a. https://www.definitions.net/definition/Corona
2. Diane Waltman states this about some of the fears (phobias) people have: from an article I found on unraveled1207.wordpress.com.
a. Cacophobia – the fear of ugliness
b. Chorophobia – the fear of dancing
c. Megalophobia – the fear of large things
d. Numerophobia – the fear of numbers
e. Peladophobia – the fear of bald people
f. Shortophobia – the fear of short people
i. Some other common phobias to remind you of are:
1. acrophobia, fear of heights.
2. aerophobia, fear of flying.
3. arachnophobia, fear of spiders.
4. astraphobia, fear of thunder and lightning.
5. autophobia, fear of being alone.
6. claustrophobia, fear of confined or crowded spaces.
7. hemophobia, fear of blood.
8. hydrophobia, fear of water.
a. https://www.healthline.com/health/list-of-phobias
g. Phobia’s – fears are around every corner and if we allow them they can cripple us in doing life!
i. My wife teaches 1st grade and she has a child who is afraid of her holes in the bread on her sandwich and of the automatic flushing toilets!
1. So fears are all around us – if we allow them to be fears – if we choose to embrace them as fears!
3. The reality check fear can leave us frustrated, insecure, doubting, uneasy, nervous, anxious and many other feelings. They can keep us awake at night and even cause health problems!
a. So, fear needs to be kept in check and managed – and this is were Love comes into motion to help us - according to the Bible it says, “God’s perfect love is there to remove the fears in our lives and in our journey of life.”
b. Yes, fears are real and yes, we get fear filled from time to time – But Jesus himself faced his fears in the Garden of Gethsemane and Love defeated them and drove them out of His mind and heart.
i. He used prayer and His connection with the Father to drive out the fears and stomp on them!
ii. See Matthew 26:36-46
c. Quotes and thoughts by Joyce Meyer on fear and battles:
i. “You shall not need to fight in this battle; take your positions, stand still, and see the deliverance of the Lord [Who is] with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not nor be dismayed. Tomorrow go out against them, for the Lord is with you. 2 Chronicles 20:17”
ii. “All of us face various kinds of battles in our lives. No one escapes problems and challenges, which we often call “the storms of life.” The good news is that God already knows what He will do when we face difficulties. He has a plan to bring us victory. Second Chronicles 20 tells us that we do not need to fight our own battles because our battles belong to the Lord, not to us. All we need to do is take our positions and remain in them until our breakthroughs come.”
1. https://joycemeyer.org/everydayanswers/ea-teachings/the-secret-to-defeating-fear
d. When a person experiences God’s perfect love then we come to understand that we do not need to be afraid of the phobias of living life.
i. Reality check of fear!
1. You're not scared of the dark. You're scared of what's in it.
2. You're not afraid of heights. You're afraid of falling.
3. You're not afraid of the people around you. You're just afraid of rejection.
4. You're not afraid to love. You're just afraid of not being loved back.
5. You're not afraid to let go. You're just afraid to accept the reality that she's gone.
6. You're not afraid to try again. You're just afraid of getting hurt for the same reason.
a. From https://www.lifehack.org/articles/communication/6-harsh-truths-about-the-reality-fear-you-may-not-realize.html
ii. But fears can be managed with the power of love – that is God’s presence and nature and a connection with Him can drive out the fears!
1. Why? Because greater is He that lives in us then he that lives in the world.
2. Why? Because we know that God loves us and he will take care of us.
3. Why? Because we now we are sons and daughters of Almighty God.
4. Why? Because the Day of Judgment will pass us by.
5. Why? Because through Christ we now have eternal life forever.
6. Why? Fear cannot reside were love is supreme.
iii. Fear has to do with torment and insecurity of the future.
1. Definition of fear: Zimmerman 2001
a. A painful emotion or passion excited by the expectation of evil, or the apprehension of impending danger; apprehension; anxiety; solicitude; alarm; dread.
i. Quote: "Fear is an uneasiness of the mind, upon the thought of future danger likely to befall us." Locke.
b. To feel a painful apprehension of; to be afraid of; to consider or expect with emotion of alarm or solicitude. "I will fear no evil, for thou art with me." Ps. xxiii. 4.
i. Synonyms -- To apprehend; dread; reverence; venerate.
e. When we allow Love to connect with our spirit, soul and body it will drive out fear! Love brings us freedom from fear!
i. Holman states: Freedom from fear -- Freedom from fear comes as individuals trust in the God who protects (Ps. 23:4) and helps them (Isa. 54:14). The New Testament teaches that perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:18). Christians are no longer slaves of fear, for Christ has given them not a spirit of timidity or cowardice, but a spirit of power, of love, and of self-control (2 Tim. 1:7).
ii. Fear is not an attribute that God wants us dwelling on – or allowing to control us. When you learn to test the spirit’s and love like God then fear will actually be driven out of your life.
1. Not falling into fear comes from having a personal loving relationship with the Lord.
2. It comes by testing the spirits and understanding the attributes of God.
3. It also comes from knowing love and showing love.
4. Were love dwells fear cannot exist! They are incompatible.
f. Stories for Preachers and Teachers: Two things are said to be unknown to Thomas A. Edison, the great inventor--discouragement and worry (and fear). His associates have claimed that his freedom from these afflictions came from the fact that he possessed absolutely no nerves. One day, one of his associates had to report to him the failure, in immediate succession, of three experiments involving enormous expenditure of money and labor. But the inventor simply smiled at the recital. The associate, worn out with the nervous strain of his long workday, and disheartened by his disappointment, said impatiently: "Why don't you worry a little about it, Mr. Edison?" "Why should I?" was the inventor's reply. "You're worrying enough for two." The victory which overcomes the world is our faith; if we rely upon God and trust him unwaveringly, it will give us a self-composure and a peace that shall be free from worry (and fear).
Conclusion:
1 John 4 promotes to us that we must DO these three things to follow the path of the Lord and stay rooted in Him!
1. Test the Spirits – Why to make sure they are from God. We must not be deceived by the great deceiver and his minions who will lead us away from Love
2. Know love and Show love - God is love! Love is the key to living successfully in this life with it you succeed in life without it you fail at life and fear takes over.
3. Fear not – Perfect love casts away fear and we need to not worry when we trust completely in Jesus. Fear desires to cripple you from living life but love helps you overcome it!
Altar Call: Is fear holding you back in life – then connect with God (Love) and let it stomp on your fear so you can live a life that makes a difference! Choose to pray and worship God in the midst of fear attacks and watch the fear runaway!
