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All right over there in 2nd Timothy chapter number 1 and tonight like I announced this morning I'm preaching on the subject of fear, and I'm preaching a sermon entitled how To overcome fear earlier this week. We got an email somebody asking a question and honestly every every week We get emails from people all over the country and all over the world asking Bible questions and sending testimonies of How this church has been a blessing to them and one of these days I'm gonna start bringing just printing those emails and reading them to you Maybe there'll be a blessing to you as they're a blessing to us But it was the second question the second time that fear had been brought up to me And I thought well, maybe I'm in between these Sunday night series right now I'm kind of preaching just some standalone sermons, and I thought well, maybe it's appropriate that we deal with the subject of fear Because there is a lot of fear Out there right now a lot of things to be afraid of and I want to Teach you or preach to you on the subject of how to overcome fear You're there in 2nd Timothy chapter 1 like you notice verse number 7 the Bible says this for God Have not given us the spirit of fear But a power and of love and of a sound mind and just by way of introduction. I'd like to begin by talking about this idea of Fear and there's what I would refer to as healthy fear and unhealthy fear and Here the Bible is teaching us and the Apostle Paul is saying that God has not given us the spirit of fear And this would be referring of course to Unhealthy fear or to a wrong type of fear go with me to the book of Proverbs if you would If you open up your Bible just right in the center You're more than likely fall in the book of Psalms and right after Psalms you have the book of Proverbs Proverbs chapter number one and the Bible does speak about fear Negatively all throughout the Bible fear is a negative thing. God has not given us a spirit of fear We're not supposed to fear. There's only one time really in the Bible that we are told To fear and that is to fear God So not all fear is is wrong there is a thing a such thing as healthy fear and then there is unhealthy fear and the Bible tells us to fear God and a fear a healthy fear of God is a good thing Proverbs chapter 1 if you would look at verse number 7 the Bible says this the fear Of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and instruction notice The Bible says if you want to have knowledge you must begin with the fear of the Lord go to Proverbs chapter 8 If you would just flip over to chapter 8 and look at verse 13 Proverbs chapter 8 and verse 13 the Bible says this the fear of the Lord is to hate evil Pride and arrogance see and the evil way and the forward-mouth Do I hate the Bible says the fear of the Lord is to hate? Evil flip over to chapter 9 if you would look at verse number 10 Proverbs chapter 9 and verse 10 the Bible says the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom and the knowledge of the holy is Understanding so notice we're told the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge We're told the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. We're told the fear of the Lord is to hate evil There is something very good about Fearing the Lord of having a healthy fear for the Lord go to the book of Job if you would job chapter 13 I think I said we're gonna be in job 13 this week, but we're in job 14 this week We're in job 13 last week go back to job You're there in Proverbs and do me a favor put a ribbon or a bookmark or something there in Proverbs Because we're gonna leave it and we're gonna come back to it, but go to job if you would you're gonna Go pass Psalms into the book of Job job chapter 13 And let me just say this the Bible says that it is a good thing It is a healthy thing to fear the Lord so not all fear is Unhealthy in fact God is the one who gave us the ability to fear and there is some Good in fear, and there's some Fear that is healthy obviously we're talking about feeling the Lord that is very healthy, but even just that feeling of fear you know if you're ever out in in You know hiking or something and you walk up to some cliff that has some steep fall And you kind of get that feeling of you know you're kind of scared. Hey, that's a good thing. You know God put that in you To to help you there is a such thing as healthy fear There is a such thing as a fear that will help you stay out of trouble Not do dumb things and that healthy fear is really of the Lord and it's from the Lord and it's something That's good and today you have a lots of liberal type Christians Who try to explain away the fear of the Lord, and I'm not necessarily preaching about the fear of the Lord Tonight, but I do want to explain this you have all these verses that tell us to fear the Lord fear the Lord fear the Lord and they'll try to explain it away and say no You're not it's not like you're supposed to be like scared of God But it's just an awe of God or a reverence of God And I will say that of course we are to be in awe of God, and we should have reverence for God But when the Bible says to fear God that's exactly what he means that we should be afraid of God job chapter 13 notice verse number 11 this way job said to his friends We saw this on Wednesday night, but I just want to show it to you quickly job chapter 13 and verse 11 He says shall not his excellency make you afraid and his dread Fall upon you the word dread means to have this fear other places in Scripture And I won't take the time to go through them But we're told that we should stand that we should be terrified of God that God is full of terror and that we should Be afraid of him and look yes, we should be in reverence. We should have reverence to God We should be in awe of God But there should be a healthy fear of what God can do to you And I if we cross him there should be a healthy fear of Just the Lord and his wrath and people act like well, that's at odds with the love of God But you know that you can love and you can fear God all at the same time There's a perfect balance of loving the Lord and Fearing the Lord and by the way you let me say this that's a good parenting will have a healthy balance of love and fear You know your kids should love you, and they should fear you Now look if all they do is fear you there. There's a problem there. You're probably abusing them If they're just shaking every time you walk by You might want to figure out you know you might want to study the Bible and figure out what you're doing there Wrong because that's not supposed to be the reaction you get from your kids, but you know if they just love you But they're constantly crossing you and they're not afraid of you. That's a problem, too Good parenting like God our Father will have a healthy balance of love and fear when I was growing up I'll tell you I love my parents. I You know when I was a kid I loved them now of course, but I was very afraid of my parents growing up you know if you ask me, I'm a little scared of them now and You know and it's there's just this healthy balance of love and fear love and fear So God tells us the Bible tells us that we are to fear the Lord But that doesn't mean that we don't love the Lord because he's a good father And there's this balance of love and fear, but when the Bible says fear hey it means fear It means tremble it means shaking your boots it means dread It means terror because of what the Lord can do to you go to the book of Matthew if you would Matthew chapter 10 in The New Testament keep your place in Proverbs and go to Matthew chapter 10 So we know that there's a healthy fear obviously just in in general if you're if you're walking up to the side of a cliff You might be a little scared of that. That's a good thing and Then of course there's a healthy fear and the healthiest of fears is the fear of the Lord But There is also an unhealthy fear and Again, we're not talking about physically being safe. You know If you if you see you know a lion You or a bear you're out camping and you see some big bear You know there should be a little fear in you that God put in you that makes you You know step back and not just you know walk up and pet it right So there is a healthy fear that God placed there, and that should be a fear of the Lord But then there's unhealthy fear, and you say what is unhealthy fear pretty much everything else Everything that we fear instead of God Everything that we're afraid of instead of God and throughout the Gospels And I'll just show you some examples from the book of Matthew But we could look at it in Matthew Mark Luke John throughout the Bible Jesus is Continuously telling his disciples and his followers and other people to fear not To not be afraid Matthew chapter 10 look at verse 26 I'll just give you some examples Matthew chapter 10 in verse 26 the Bible says this fear them not Therefore and again, I'm not gonna take the time to show you the whole context You can study that out on your own But I just want you to notice that Jesus is constantly telling people fear not don't be afraid He says fear them not therefore for there is nothing covered that shall not be revealed and hid that shall not be known look at verse 28 same chapter Matthew chapter 10 verse 28 the Bible says Jesus said and fear not Them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul But rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell and of course That's talking about the Lord and about God. He says you got to fear God, but you know you ought not fear He says fear not them which kill the body look at verse 31 same chapter. He says fear ye not therefore You're of more value than many sparrows go to Matthew chapter 14 if you would look at verse 27 Matthew chapter 14 and verse 27 Matthew 14 27 the Bible says this but straightway Jesus spake unto them saying be of good cheer It is I notice what he says be not afraid Jesus just constantly telling his disciples and his followers and people around him He's saying fear ye not fear not be not afraid the Bible says there He he says be not afraid look at Matthew chapter 17 in verse number 7 Matthew 17 if you flip over and a couple of chapters verse number 7 the Bible says this and Jesus came and touched them and said arise notice what he says and be not afraid He's constantly telling people don't be afraid fear not fear them not Fear ye not go to Matthew 28 look at verse 10 Matthew 28 verse 10 This is the resurrected Christ after he he is seen by his disciples Matthew 28 verse 10 Then said Jesus unto them be not afraid Go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee and there shall they see me now once you notice that Jesus is Constantly telling his followers as disciples. Don't be afraid don't be afraid now He's not telling them not to be afraid of God because he actually said that in Matthew 10 28 We're gonna come back to that passage later where he says rather fear him Which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell, but other than that as far as fearing people fearing circumstances Fearing outcomes fearing things around us He's constantly saying fear them not fear not fear you not be not afraid be not afraid He says look don't be afraid why because there's healthy fear a fear of God and then there's unhealthy fear, which is fear of everything else and Jesus would tell us don't be afraid Don't be afraid and what we would say to Jesus is well, that's easier said than done Because there are things that make us afraid. Isn't that true? I Mean things happen and the economy does this and we kind of get afraid Fear is our imagination running rampant with the worst possible outcomes and We tend to just imagine that you know, well what if this guy gets elected then what well, you know what the sun's gonna rise and We'll just move on Well, what what if what if this happens with my job situation or what if this happens with my children? Situation or what if this happens in my relationship or what? What if this happens with with my health, you know? There's all these outcomes that we're afraid of and Jesus would look at you and say you're not afraid He would say you can overcome fear and The reason that we must overcome fear is because the devil Has figured out how to use fear in order to motivate and manipulate us. I Mean the world is constantly using fear to scare us The world is constantly using fear to try to manipulate us to try to move us in their direction with their agenda and Jesus would say Jesus would say fear not the only thing you need to be afraid of is God and Here's the truth if you and I could live a life That is instead of full of fear is Fearless We would be much better Christians Now I will say this that I don't know that any of us will ever be able to be live a life That is completely fearless Because we're humans Because we're weak because we're clay I don't know that any of us will ever and I'm including myself in that number Will ever be able to live a life that is completely fearless But I will say this I believe that you and I can learn to live lives that fear less Lives Of less fear We can learn to overcome fear. We can learn to have less fear. You say how can we do that? I'd like to give you three reasons tonight three thoughts in regards to how to Overcome fear because if you're human you will fear If you're human you will find yourself afraid at times And we must learn to overcome fear go with me to the book of Deuteronomy if you want Deuteronomy chapter number 20 Towards the end of the the beginning of the Bible you have Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy It's the fifth book in the Bible Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy Uncertainty makes us afraid Change makes us afraid Not the unknown makes us afraid We're very fearful people, but we can learn to fear less we can learn to overcome fear How can we do it let me give you three thoughts I'd encourage you to write these down if you can number one how to overcome fear number one avoid those who are afraid If you want to overcome fear You must learn to avoid Those who are afraid You don't want to be around fearful people in Deuteronomy chapter 20 we have instructions for going to battle and I want you to notice that God is giving the children of Israel here instructions to go into battle And this is a great example because going to battle something. That's pretty scary Something could make you very afraid and he gives I want you to notice He gives some spiritual reasons some good reasons Why you may not want to go into battle notice Deuteronomy chapter 20 look at verse 1 the Bible says this well now goes out to battle against thine enemies and see his horses and chariots and a people more than thou Notice when he says be not afraid of them, and we would say well. That's easier said than done He says for the Lord thy God is with thee Which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt and it shall be when ye are come nigh unto the battle That the priests I want you to notice This is the spiritual leadership of the children of Israel the priests the priest shows up as the spiritual leaders and gives some spiritual reason some good reasons why you may not want to go into battle that the priest shall approach and speak unto the people and Shall say so look everything the priests are about to tell us They're gonna send people home tell people you're not gonna go into battle and these are all good reasons These are biblical godly spiritual reasons Why you may not want to go into battle verse 3 and shall say these are the priests speaking unto them Here over Israel ye approach this day unto battle against your enemies Let not your hearts faint Fear not and do not tremble and I would again in Just encourage you and challenge you as you read the Bible as you read the Bible notice that the only time we're ever told to Fear it's to fear God Any other time fear is a negative thing let not your hearts faint fear not do not tremble neither be ye Terrified because of them notice verse 4 for the Lord your God is he that goeth with you to fight for you Against your enemies to save you notice verse 5 and the officers shall speak unto the people now. I want you to notice He says and the officers will speak of the people saying here are the reasons that The that the priests has given spiritual reasons through the officers why they might want to not go into battle What man is there that has built a new house and hath not dedicated it let him go and return to his house Lest he die in the battle and another man dedicated the Bible God would give you know reasons you can opt out of the draft here and he says look if you just built a house and you haven't had a chance to dedicate it you built a house and you haven't even you know had a Welcoming party, you know then just go home We don't you know because you maybe you'll die and you'll never be able to enjoy that house So you can catch us the next battle you go So you don't die in the battle another man dedicated look at verse 6 and what man is he that has planted a vineyard And has not yet eaten of it Let him also go and return unto his house lest he die in the battle and another man eat it He said look if you put the time and the energy and the effort to plant a vineyard But you've not yet reaped the benefits. He says go home You don't have to go into this battle You go home and and take care of that lest he die in the battle and another man eat it look at verse 7 and what? Man is there that hath betrothed the wife and hath not taken her Let him go and return unto his house lest he die in the battle and another man take her So he says look somebody started the process of marriage and has not yet finished it They've not they're not he hasn't yet taken his wife Then look you go home and lest he die in the battle and another man taker Those are all positive reasons spiritual reasons why in the Old Testament you may not want to go into battle Then in verse 8 we get one selfish reason why you should not go into battle Look at verse 8 and the officers shall speak further unto the people and they shall say What man is there that is fearful and faint-hearted? Let him go and return unto his house He says if you're afraid he's a you know, they said hey anyone build a house recently I built the house you get a chance to dedicate it now We were gonna move in and then you know, we got drafted you go ahead and go home Anybody planning thing? Yeah, we plan for you that have you been able to eat the fruit thereof yet? No, well, you know starting to spring up and well you go home Anybody just got me just got married just got betrothed, but I haven't finished it. I haven't taken my wife yet Well, you go go ahead and go home then they ask this question. They ask the question who's scared Who's afraid Who's fearful? You know, I don't know how many people would raise their hands, but I'm sure some few cowards said I'm scared And they said go home Go home if you're afraid See the Bible teaches that you do not want to be around fearful people you say why? Because fear is contagious Fear will spread I Mean look at verse 8 and the officers shall speak further unto the people and they shall say what man is there? That is fearful and Faint-hearted let him go and return unto his house notice this word less the word less means to avoid the risk of he says less his brethren's heart faint as well as his heart He says look you want to send someone who's scared home because if they're scared that will spread Fear is contagious Fear will spread so if you want to overcome fear you must avoid those who are afraid Because their fear will spread unto you You'll catch it You'll catch fear go to the book of Numbers if you would Numbers chapter 13 you're there in Deuteronomy Just head back to the book of Numbers. Let me give you one example of this in the Bible Numbers chapter 13 I Remember the story when Moses sent the twelve spies into the land of Canaan Twelve spies went to or twelve men went to spy on Canaan ten were bad and two were good right the song we sing with the kids Numbers chapter 13 verse 27 the Bible says this this is when they return and They told him these are the spies speaking to Moses and to the congregation and said We came into the land where the thou sent us us and Surely it flowed with milk and honey, and this is the fruit of it They brought fruit from the land of kids and look everything God said about that land was true It flowed with milk and honey look at this fruit, and then they said this verse 28 nevertheless the people be strong That dwell in the land and the cities are walled and very great and moreover We saw the children of Enoch there The Amalekites dwell in the land of of the south and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the mountains and the Canaanites dwell by the sea and by the coast of Jordan and Caleb now Caleb wasn't afraid Caleb was one of the two good spies We have Caleb and Joshua who are the good spies and Caleb stilled the people before Moses and said let us go up at once And possess it for we are well able to overcome it notice verse 31 But the men that went up with him said we'd be not able to go up against the people For they are stronger than we your imagination Starts bringing about the worst possible outcome Once we go fight those Jebusites once we go fight those giants those walls were pretty strong and those walls were pretty tall Notice verse 32 and they brought up an evil report of the land Which they had searched unto the children of Israel saying the land Through which we have gone to search it is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof and all the people that saw it That saw in it are men of great stature and there we saw the Giants the sons of Enoch Which come of the Giants and we were in our own sights as grasshoppers And so we were in their sight these people were scared and afraid They saw the Giants and they said we can't beat them. We you know they started imagining the worst possible outcome They said we cannot beat them. We they are stronger than us. They brought up an evil report they came back scared and notice numbers chapter 14 in verse 1 their fear spread and all the congregation lifted up their voice and cried and the people went that night So if you want to overcome fear you need to learn to avoid those that are afraid If you want to overcome fear you need to learn to avoid those that are afraid you say why because fear is contagious other people's fear May make you fear One way to overcome fear is to stop listening to people who are afraid I mean The the best greatest example we could use Right now is the situation with COVID-19 And listen as far as coronavirus is concerned I you know, I realize you guys have all sorts of theories out there and I don't need you to send me your YouTube stuff Okay As far as coronavirus, I mean I it's a real sickness. I Believe it's a real sickness and and and for certain people in high-risk Categories it could be deadly and If someone is in that high-risk Situation then I understand why they would want to be careful and I understand why because for certain people and we're not just talking about older people there's people with a immunity issues and whatever there there are situations where it might actually affect them in a very bad way and and and and and if you live with someone that's high risk and and And you're around someone that's high risk. I understand taking precautions. I don't have anything against that But what's interesting to me about the coronavirus situation is that there seems to be two different worlds that the coronavirus lives in there's the world of the media and the politicians I mean if you Just locked yourself up in a house since January of this year Never left and all you knew about coronavirus was what you heard from the politicians and the media You would think that the black plague has spread across our nation I Mean you would think that there's just bodies being piled I mean sometimes I'm driving down the road and I'm running some errands or whatever I'm like turn on the radio just to kind of hear what's going on or whatever and I start listening to the news and my Heart starts shaking. I'm like good night. It's gonna get me. I mean the way they talk The way they act it's like those sky is falling. The world is falling about, you know, there's the world There's a coronavirus world of the media and politicians and it's like the worst thing ever and then you go to the real world You know you you you you go pick up a Christmas tree and everybody's happy and people are singing Christmas carols You go to the store Merry Christmas Everybody got their mask on cuz they have to have a mask on but you know Everybody's just going about their day and it's like these are two different worlds These worlds don't really seem to match. There's like there's the Gavin Newsom the sky's falling and Then there's the real world Like I'm not saying that we shouldn't wash our hands and we shouldn't take caution and we shouldn't be careful around people that are high Risk I understand all that but here's what I'm telling you, you know, sometimes I I watch young people that you know I'm looking at you. They look healthy and strong and they're just acting so scared And it's like man, maybe you should turn off CNN Maybe you should turn off the radio Maybe you should stop listening to all these people that are scared Because if you want to overcome fear you must avoid those who are afraid you don't want to be around fearful people because fear is contagious and You know, I don't know how much coronavirus is spread, but I can tell you this fear has spread across our nation and Again, we should be careful. I understand high-risk Classes of people that want to be careful and should take precautions and I understand all that But look if you want to avoid fear you must avoid the fearful If you want to avoid those who are afraid if you want to overcome fear, you must avoid those who are afraid because fear is contagious and Look just in life in general go to the book of Matthew if you would Matthew chapter 10 In general you ought to Consider The fact that Fear can be contagious There are people in my life We attempt to do things here at Verity Baptist Church and we attempt to you know, I've learned that there are people in my life There are the encouragers who anytime I say hey, we should do this or like let's do it. Praise the Lord God can do it, you know, whatever and I love those people. They encourage me along the way I have to be careful about being only around those people because those people will also get me into trouble and Then there are some people and and yeah, I'll tell you my wife is the main person Who will just see things for reality? I mean she show she she won't be negative, but she won't sugarcoat it for me She'll say well have you thought about this and I'm like man Can you not bring that up? Nobody on my staff brought that up? All right, well what about this and what about that and and we need those people We need people that are gonna bring clarity to a situation and obviously the Bible says That in the multitude of counselors there's wisdom So it's good to get counsel from lots of people but you know, I've learned that there are some people you just want to avoid Because it doesn't matter how easy the win it doesn't matter how good the deal is It doesn't matter how just benign everything's always negative Everything's like no, that's never gonna work You're gonna split the church, you know And there's some people in life that I just kind of avoid because it doesn't matter what you're doing. It's always bad It's always not gonna work and look that fear can get in you So be realistic Be realistic about life Be realistic about your situation and look and if you're you've got somebody in your home that's in that high-risk Category of coronavirus wash your hands wear a mask do what you got to do to keep them safe But but at the same time just don't live in fear You don't have to be overcome by fear Avoid those who are afraid and look in whatever area So I'm really afraid about what the economy's gotta do gonna do maybe you should stop listening to economists Maybe you should stop watching those YouTube videos Because fear spreads fear is contagious. It will spread So to overcome fear we must avoid those who are afraid and look here's what the Bible says if you're gonna go into battle with Someone you don't want your wingman to be someone who's scared Because that fear will spread Here's point number two. I Said number one to overcome fear. We must avoid those who are afraid number two to overcome fear We must consider the realistic consequences we must consider the realistic consequences and We're gonna look at this verse and we already saw it, but we're gonna dissect it here And this is Jesus and this way I think Jesus, you know I think Jesus sometimes he just kind of had a little bit of a Divine smart aleck attitude in Matthew chapter 10 in verse 28 Notice what he says he says and fear not them that's what he says and fear not them and Fear not them and he's about to give us an example of something. You shouldn't be afraid of I Mean you you would think because here's like you you and I would say it right and fear not them that make fun of you Because sticks and stones can break your bones, but words will never hurt you, right? That's what we would say That's what we would say to our kids right and fear not them that you know, we'd give some sort of thing there That's like it's not that big of a deal. Don't worry about it Jesus and maybe with a smile on his face says and fear not them which kill the body And We're kind of like isn't that kind of like the thing Is that like the most scary thing? I mean the main thing fear not them which kill the body really like that's the thing I'm most afraid of Jesus. I Mean you see kind of his sarcasm He says and fear not them. He's he's like, what's the worst thing that someone could really do to you? I mean, come on, he says and fear not them which kill the body He says but are not able to kill the soul You know, there's something worse than dying So what could possibly be worse than dying of coronavirus? You know, what could possibly worse of dying the coronavirus is dying of coronavirus and going to hell And fear not them which kill a body And we're kind of like isn't that kind of it isn't that the biggest thing is that the thing we're most afraid of isn't that? The nightmares you have at night you're running and someone's trying to kill you It's not the biggest fear and Jesus would say no Fear not them which kill the body but are not able to kill the soul But rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body and health and when Jesus daddy does he kind of Sarcastically brings fear into perspective and he says aren't you saved? I Mean aren't you sure you're on your way to heaven because we can have this conversation if you need to Don't we ask people do you know for sure if that's a you're on your way to heaven? I Mean if we ask you that question, you know for sure that day you go to heaven I would hope most people in this room would say yeah, I'm 100% sure What do you trust and get to get you to heaven my faith in Jesus Christ? He's down on the cross for my sins. I place my faith in him I called upon him for salvation. Do you believe you could lose your salvation? No, nothing can take it away Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ. Nothing can take away my salvation. It's eternal security. He says, okay. Well if salvation Guarantees that your soul is going to heaven when you die then what exactly is the worst possible thing? That someone could do to you And Jesus what kind of smiling I think say if you're not them which kill the body I Mean that's like the worst thing they could do to you. It's just kill the body But are not able to kill the soul But rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body and hell and here's all I'm saying. Here's all I'm saying To overcome fear. You should consider the realistic consequences And you had to ask yourself what is the worst possible thing that the could actually happen and Then you had to ask this question for a Christian. Is that really that bad? Go to Psalms if you would have Psalm 56 and you kept your place in Proverbs just Right before Proverbs you have the book of Psalms and look I'm not trying to be a smart aleck I'm trying to help you understand something We Get so afraid Well if this doesn't work out with my business and this doesn't work out with my job, and this doesn't work out my career no, and Then you got it. You got it. You just got the perspective just step back from it and ask yourself Well, what really is the worst possible thing that could happen here? I? Could lose my house and then you go live somewhere else I Could lose my car you couldn't afford it anyway I Might have to shop at Walmart Okay Look when it comes to overcoming fear sometimes we should just consider the realistic consequences to realize that when you're a Christian It's really not that bad. I Mean if they kill my body It's really not that bad If they take it all I'm still ahead Because I'm with Christ Because I'm in Christ See Jesus would say Why are you afraid of the Roman? Why are you afraid of the Jews? Why are you afraid well? They could kill us? And you said so I? Mean if you're on your way to heaven They're not able to kill your soul He says rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell Psalm 56 look at verse 4 Psalm 56 verse 4 in God. I will praise his word in God I have put my trust Notice this I will not fear. What flesh can do unto me What my trust is in God, I don't what's the worst possible thing that a human being can do to me Psalm 118 look at verse 6 Psalm 118 verse 6 Psalm 118 verse 6 the Bible says this the Lord is my on my side Psalm 118 verse 6 the Lord is on my side. I will not fear. What can man do unto me? question mark What's the worst thing that man can do you? What Can they take from you that's so I mean what's the worst possible consequence you're all done Here's all I'm telling you when you're overcome by fear when you're overcome by fear You got to avoid those that are afraid and You got to consider the realistic consequences. What's the worst possible thing that could happen here, and when you're a Christian? Is it really that bad? I've told you the story before Years ago Jack Hiles and John Rice were preaching together John Rice was preaching for Jack house at his church in Hammond, Indiana This is a story. I was told I don't know if it's true, but it's a good story They stepped out through a back door into an alley which is often where the preachers would step out after a service and when they stepped out into that alley a Guy came out of the shadows to mug them the gun put a gun right up to brother houses stomach and said give me all your money or blow your gun your blow your brains out and John R. Rice began to laugh and The guy looked at him and said what are you laughing at? He said well you put the gun in his stomach, and you said you'll blow his brains out And the guy said yeah, you think I'm joking you're not scared and the story goes that John R. Rice I don't know if this really happened, but the story goes that John R. Rice said you can't scare me with heaven Look if you're a Christian I here's all I'm telling you if you're a Christian the worst possible thing that something could do Somebody could do to you is kill you Say yeah, I know But if you're saved is it really that bad If you lose your job Is it really that bad? If you lose your house Is it really that bad if you have to live in a smaller house if you have to drive an older car if you have? to wear clothes that were used Is it really that bad you don't have to fear what man can do to you? Who you should fear is the one who can throw you both soul and body in hell? Let me give you a third point Go back to the book of Actually go to the book of Mark if you would in the New Testament you have Matthew And then you have the book of Mark Mark chapter 4 Mark chapter 4 we're talking about how to avoid fear It's a very fearful Times we're living in at least they want you to be afraid Listen to the news. They want you to be scared All of them want you to be scared They use fear as a manipulation tactic I mean the democrats say if we don't vote vote in joe biden trump's gonna Destroy this country and i'm gonna do this and do that. But you know what the other side says the same thing The republicans are if you know if you let joe biden in and look joe biden's bad I'm not i'm just saying they all use fear to try to manipulate us to motivate us To get us and here's what i'm saying. Look we should be smart We should be responsible but don't live in fear. God has not given us the spirit of fear How do you overcome fear well number one avoid those who are afraid number two consider the realistic consequences here's number three focus on faith over fear Focus on faith over fear In mark chapter four we have an interesting story It's very again kind of jesus. I think you know, he had a little bit of a sense of humor I may I could be wrong about this In mark chapter four in verse 36 the bible says this and when they had sent away the multitudes, they just got done doing a big ministry Mark 4 36 they took him even as he was in the ship And they were also with him other little ships And there arose a great storm of wind And the waves beat into the ship so that it was now full Now, I don't know a lot about boating a lot about Fishing and I didn't grow up doing that and i'm not into that kind of stuff and and I don't know a lot about it But I I know this when you get the water inside the boat. That's probably not a good thing And there arose a great storm of wind and the waves beat into the ship so that it was now full that was verse 38 And he was in the hinder part of the ship asleep on a pillow This is why I think jesus had a little bit of a sense of humor I mean, isn't this kind of your worst nightmare? You're on a ship that's going to go down and the one guy that can save you is asleep It's kind of like your worst nightmare, isn't it? I like the thing you'd be most afraid of some of you are like that's my life I'm like in this storm of life right now, and it seems like jesus is asleep I'm in the storm of life and it seems like god is just asleep. He's not paying attention And they awake him notice verse 38 and say unto him master carest thou not that we perish We perish Where we get that great hymn from? That's verse 39 and he arose and rebuked the wind And said unto the pc peace be still And the wind seized And there was a great calm And he said unto them notice these words Why are ye so fearful? How is it that you have no faith He says look The reason you're so fearful right now Is because you have so little faith And he says if you want to overcome fear, you know what you should do you should focus on faith over fear See we like to focus on fear over faith We like to focus on the big old goliath and say that's scary. That's not I don't want to fight that I don't want to go there. I don't want to do that And jesus says why are you so fearful? And they're kind of like well, you know, there was this big storm and there was like water in the boat you were sleeping Why are you so fearful How is it that you have no faith and then here's the really interesting part of this story verse 41 And they feared exceedingly It's kind of funny how we are as human beings. We just like to be afraid. We just like to be afraid We like to fear here they are Fearing the storm jesus calms the storm and then they're still in fear This time though, it's a good fear they feared exceedingly Now they're afraid of jesus Now they're afraid of jesus and by the way, they should have been afraid of jesus jesus got in the flesh And they feared exceedingly and said one to another what matter man is this That even the winds in the sea obey him See God is who we should fear, right? We've talked about that God is who we should fear God is not the only one that we fear because we're humans and we fear other things that we shouldn't fear But god is who we should fear But if we were to make a classification Of the biggest baddest fears, you know that god would be the biggest baddest fear The biggest bad is terror the big the thing you're most afraid of if you're afraid of something if someone is coming against you In a negative way who would that be the most fearful one it would be god if god is moving against you that's a scary thing And then here's here's what jesus is trying to teach them If i'm the scariest thing And i'm with you What are you afraid of My kids were watching this little documentary about Lions and you know animals out in africa Who are watching it with them and i'll tell you those lines. There's a reason why the bible equates the devil to a lion Because those lions are bad They eat their own cubs. I mean they it's they they do bad things But there's there's this one little situation where they're following around this pride and there's these three male lions That want nothing more Than to kill these little cubs and eat them But in this situation it happens to be that their dad The the dad lion actually cares for them and loves for them and he's the biggest baddest lion So as long as he's around the cubs are safe Everyone else is afraid of dad All these other lines that want to hurt the cubs. They're all afraid of big bad dad But as long as the cubs are with the most fearful one They're good and here's what i'm telling you you and I are with the lion of the tribe of judah You and I are with the lord. Jesus. Jesus is the most fearful scary thing even the winds and the waves obey him So if he's with us, even if he's asleep You got nothing to fear You got to focus on faith over fear They were Feared the bible says they feared exceedingly of jesus in verse 41 But if they would have feared exceedingly of jesus in verse 38, they wouldn't have been afraid The point is this if god is with us then what have we to fear Go to psalm 27 if you would i'm not sure if you kept your place in psalm If you can find the book of psalms right in the center of the bible psalm 27 psalm 27 in verse 1 Psalm 27 in verse 1 the bible says this a psalm of david The lord is my light and my salvation Psalm 27 verse 1 the lord is my light and my salvation whom shall I fear? The lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid When the wicked even mine enemies and my foes come upon me to eat my flesh Think about that statement. That's a pretty scary statement that david just made Look at verse two when the wicked Even mine enemies and my foes come upon me to eat up my flesh they stumble and fell Though an host should encamp against me My heart shall not fear the war should rise against me in this Will I be confident and what will I be confident that the lord is my light and my salvation? Whom shall I fear? The lord is the strength of my life of whom shall I be afraid? Go to psalm 118 look at verse 6 psalm 118 verse 6 Psalm 118 in verse 6 the bible says this psalm 118 verse 6 the lord is on my side Don't miss it the lord is on my side notice these words I will not fear Now look when the lord's not on your side you should be afraid And when the lord is on your side, you should still be afraid But the lord is on my side I will not fear what can man do unto me You don't have to turn here you go to first john if you would we'll finish up in first john If you start in the book of revelation and head backwards you have jude third second of first john first john chapter four While you turn there i'll read just a couple of these verses to you hebrews 13 6 so that we may boldly say Boldly is the opposite of fear So that we may boldly say the lord is my helper and I will not fear what man shall do Unto me roman is 8 31. What shall we say then to these things if god before us who can be against us? Somebody said this we need to stop telling god how big our problems are and start telling our problems how big our god is I Mean what shall we say then to these things it's interesting that Paul says Here's what you need to tell these things these things that make you scared these things that make you afraid these things that keep you Up at night these things that make you anxious Here's what you should say to these things if god before us who can be against us See in order to overcome fear we must focus on faith over fear We must focus on the god that's the biggest baddest god The most fearful and dreadful thing is with us the winds and the waves obey him So we just focus on faith Jesus said why are you so fearful? How is it that you have? no faith first john chapter 4 verse 18 This is the verse that we got an email about somebody asking about first john chapter 4 verse 18 the bible says this There is no fear in love But perfect love casteth out fear Because fear hath torment He that feareth is not made perfect in love And I want you to understand that Like we've been talking about in this sermon. There is a healthy fear and an unhealthy fear Fear of god is very healthy Fear of anything else is very unhealthy This verse is talking about unhealthy fear This verse is talking about unhealthy fear It's not talking about the fact that we don't fear god because you can fear god and love god all at the same time In fact, you're commanded to There is no fear in love But perfect love cast without fear Because fear hath torment. This is unhealthy fear He that feareth is not made perfect in love. See here's the application if we were to apply it to our story We have the disciples there in the middle of the sea in the middle of the torment the winds and the waves The great storm of wind the waves beat and the water is coming into the ship and jesus asleep There is no fear in love But perfect love cast without fear See if we love god with all our heart with all our soul with our might if we know that god loves us and he's The biggest baddest thing on earth in the universe Then there is no fear in love But perfect love cast without fear see the word perfect means mature to come to perfection to complete as you and I Grow in our christian life as we learn to love the lord to trust the lord to acknowledge the lord Then that love will cast out unhealthy fear That love will cast out all the wrong fear because if I fear god and god is with me And I have nothing to fear Psalm 23 says this the lord is my shepherd. I shall not want It says he leadeth me He leadeth me And then it says though. I walk through the valley of the shadow of death. I shall fear no evil Say why don't I have to fear I never have to fear when the lord leadeth me I never have to fear When i'm with god Even if I feel like he's not paying attention Even if I feel like he's fallen asleep Even if I feel like you know, what's the hold up here? Jesus? I don't need to be afraid Because I can focus on faith Over fear there is no fear in love But perfect love cast without fear Because fear hath torment He that feareth is not made perfect in love How do we overcome fear? i'll just Review these with you number one. We avoid those who are afraid Number two, we consider the realistic consequences Number three we focus on faith Over fear we focus our faith on the one that we should fear over all the other little things That we want to fear that we tend to fear that we may fear and we realize That if god be for us Who can be against us Let's bow our heads and have a word of prayer heavenly father Thank you lord for your work Thank you for the bible Lord, thank you for the fact that you encourage us with this idea of fear Oh, I realize we all get afraid Our minds start raising racing and we start just thinking about the worst possible outcomes And we can get overwhelmed with fear Lord help us to not have a spirit of fear Help us to be practical Help us to be wise Help us to make good decisions Based off the risks in our lives But help us to never live a life of fear Help us to not be overcome with the spirit of fear Lord we love you In the matchless name of christ we pray Amen