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Amen, all right the title sermon this morning is the spirit of fear the spirit of fear Look down at your Bible at 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse number 7 the Bible says for God It's not given us the spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind Let's pray Heavenly Father. We thank you Lord so much for this scripture Lord and Lord is powerful and Lord We know just through this verse right here that any spirit of fear that we have on our lives Lord It's not from you and Lord I pray that you'd help me to preach the sermon in boldness and power and not in fear and or the fill me with the Holy Spirit as I begin to preach now in Jesus name we pray. Amen All right. So today All this coronavirus stuff is starting to affect Christians also and this fear is creeping into Christianity right now About this scare and people are like, well, yeah, I am scared Well, you know what the Bible did not give you that spirit of fear and so people are fearing being in public because the news are Fear mongers and they're promoting their spirit of fear and look that spirit of fear is not from God it's not from God and so if you're afraid of Your health and all this corona stuff. Look people get sick. Okay, and That's that's the truth of the matter But do you think that God you know wants you to be afraid of every virus? He wants you to forsake the assembling of going to church because you're afraid of getting sick He wants you to forsake being baptized or keeping any of God's commandments because you're afraid You're out of your mind. If you think that that's not what the Bible teaches as a matter of fact This is a big topic in the Word of God this fear. I could even nearly put All the scripture I wanted to in here, but there's a lot okay so That's what I'm preaching on and this corona scare this coronavirus scare is what prompted me to preach it And so it's not just about the corona viruses. It's just fear in general Okay, but I will be focusing a little bit about then I'm gonna give you some health tips at the end of this sermon so you can Know what you should do. Okay, so let's look at first John chapter 4. It's turn off And before we get fully started in this first John chapter 4 verse number 1 First John 4 Verse number 1 the Bible says beloved believe not every spirit, but try the spirits Whether they have they are of God because many false prophets are gone out into the world And so the Bible teaches us hey don't believe every spirit and you know, I know this is talking about false prophets And we should try those spirits. Hey, whatever spirit that that preacher has Hey You should try those spirits and make sure that person is really preaching what the Bible says Cuz many false prophets are gone out into the world But you know There's me there's all kinds of different spirits that we can get associated with and I didn't have time to do a Bible study And all the different types of spirits that there are obviously we know there's demonic spirits. We know there's angelic spirits We know that there's a spirit of God that resides in all believers But also There is a spirit of fear isn't there because that's what 2nd Timothy chapter 1 verse 7 says God Have not given us the spirit of fear So obviously that's a spirit that makes us afraid that makes us fear things and you know what it's not of God It's not of God So if you're afraid of something this morning if you're afraid of the coronavirus if you're afraid of you know Coming to church because you might get sick look it's not from God Because God told you to not forsake the assembly of yourselves together And so do you think God's just gonna go back on his commandments say well in case the coronavirus That's your that's your little get out of jail get out of church free card or something. It's ridiculous God's not giving you that spirit that spirit comes from who? The devil the devil brings that spirit upon look the news if you think that the news has your best interest at heart You're wrong about that You know why they're pushing this they're pushing it because they want to bring this vaccine out Then then they can make you all afraid again. See it was the measles before wasn't it now Funny how you don't hear anything about the measles anymore now. She's the coronavirus. We're all scared Be afraid be afraid So there are different types of spirits and the spirit I'm talking about today is the spirit of fear And we should not have anything to do with that look and sometimes we get afraid I get that But you know what God says fear not be not afraid So this sermon has two purposes the number one purpose is I want to give those that are in fear swift kick in the pants And exhort you to continue in the faith And number two I want to teach you what you really should fear okay? So there's two purposes to this sermon now the Bible says this scene 62 times fear not 62 times so that's why I said it's a major theme in the Bible, and there's all kinds of other different variations of this Okay, but the work the actual term fear not is 62 times. I'm not gonna go through all those 62 times I'm gonna go through a couple of them with you though Let's turn to Genesis chapter 15, and we'll look at the first mention of that same fear not Because you know you know what we should fear we should fear God That's the only person you should fear Fear God all right and fear When you when you do something wicked the punishment of that God all right Genesis chapter 15 verse 1 the Bible says after these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision saying Fear not Abram. I am thy shield and I exceeding great reward So what's he saying on this hey if God's your shield guess what you have a really good friend You have someone that's gonna protect you no matter what and he says the fear not he told Abraham not to fear And you know what Abraham believed God and it was counted to him under righteousness So he was saved because he feared God and he believed him right so look at Joshua chapter 10 verse 25 Joshua chapter 10 verse 25 I'm just going to show you a couple examples of this in the Bible so Joshua chapter 10 verse number 25 So the Bible says this and Joshua said unto them Fear not nor be dismayed be strong and of a good courage for thus shall the Lord do to all your enemies against whom ye fight In Ha time to take the jacket off all right anyway Says be strong and be of good courage and look you know being in fear is the opposite of being strong being in fear opposite of having good courage You know and when the Lord is the one that's fighting the battles for you. Why are you afraid? Why would you be afraid of an army look look give you Gideon was was afraid? But you know he wasn't too afraid to listen to God Took 300 men and beat all those all those soldiers with just 300 men, and you know what God was fighting for them That's why they want it wasn't just because those 300 men were the baddest dudes on the planet or something They just didn't lick their water like a dog right or whatever So look at Luke chapter 5. Let's look at some New Testament Sayings and look Jesus said this saying also But so look at Luke chapter 5 verse number 10 And it says it said and so was also James and John the sons of Zebedee which were partners with Simon and Jesus said unto Simon Fear not from henceforth thou shalt catch men So yeah, and isn't it funny how people are afraid to go soloing They're afraid of what's gonna happen at the door, but you know Jesus said fear not from henceforth thou shalt catch men Hey, so guess what that means that if you go and follow Jesus guess what? You're gonna catch men when you follow him and knock on doors and preach the gospel to people and he said not to fear Don't fear So look at Revelation chapter 1 verse 17, then we'll move on to some other scriptures But Revelation chapter 1 verse 17 is the last book in the Bible in case you don't know where Revelation is It's the last book of the Bible and it's the first chapter of the last book in verse number 17 The Bible says when I saw him I fell at his feet is dead and he laid his right hand upon me saying unto Me fear not I am the first and the last I am he that liveth and was dead and behold I am alive forevermore Amen, and have the keys of hell and of death, you know who you should fear You know, he said not to fear because he you know was John's God He doesn't have to fear. He doesn't have to fear Jesus. But you know what when he saw Jesus he was afraid Why was he afraid? Because he had a long hair and he was skinny and had a little dress on you think that that's what he looked like He didn't look like that at all. His eyes were a flame of fire. The Bible says his feet were like polished brass He's shown like the Sun You know who we should fear in our in this life, you know of any person would be the Lord Jesus Christ God the Father and the Holy Ghost. Amen the God of Israel and But he told John not to fear him Because when he looked at him he was afraid and there's a reason why because he was probably scary-looking If you saw Jesus right now, you'd probably afraid too you know if you saw any Angelic being you'd be scared out of your mind Because it's not something you've ever seen before and there's a lot of power there So fear is the opposite of strong fear is the opposite of courage fear is the opposite of boldness And we shouldn't have that spirit of fear. The Bible says that So the term be not afraid is in the Bible 26 times be not afraid and that is Is a synonym of fear being afraid is being fearful right turn to Deuteronomy chapter 20 verse number one We'll look at some verses about not being afraid Deuteronomy chapter 20 Verse number one The Bible says this when thou goest out to the battle against thine enemies and seest horses and chariots and people more than thou be Not afraid of them for the Lord thy God is with thee which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt So the Bible is telling his people Hey, don't be afraid of all these armies and these all these different things be not afraid of them The Lord is with thee. You know what if God is on your side, you don't have anything to fear That's what he's saying whether they have the greatest armaments ever Don't be afraid of them. So in the end times we're gonna have this reprobate army after us, right? But the Bible says to be not afraid So which what are you gonna listen to the Word of God? Are you gonna listen to Fox News and Facebook and YouTube and the drug report and whatever else you are listening to that's making you afraid Hey, don't listen that listen to the Bible Joshua chapter 1 verse 9. I'll have you turn to 2nd Chronicles 20 verse 15 I'm gonna read for you Joshua 1 9 the Bible says this and Joshua 1 9 have not I commanded thee be strong and of a Good courage be not afraid Neither be thou dismayed for the Lord thy God is with thee whether so ever thou goest Don't be afraid Don't be dismayed God is with you wherever and look and if you are saved today and you have the Holy Spirit of God Residing in you. Guess what? God is with you wherever you're going And he's with you wherever you're going. That's wrong to think about that So when if you want to be afraid don't be afraid You know of the things that are gonna happen to you be afraid Over the things that God might do to you as a punishment for your sins But look at 2nd Chronicles chapter 20 verse 15 it says and he said harking ye all Judah and you Inhabitants of Jerusalem and thou King Jehoshaphat thus saith the Lord unto you be not afraid Nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude for the battle is not yours But God's look God's gonna fight the battles for you. Why are people so scared? You're scared of a little microscopic thing that yeah, can it hurt you? Of course it can but do you think that that's what God called you for to so he could kill you with a virus That way is that what he called you for? Oh Yeah, hey believe in me Come to church Get baptized Go soul winning, you know preach the gospel or whatever else But you know what when you do that, I'm gonna kill you for it Does that make sense to you? Do you see how irrational that fear is? It's a rational and it's a spirit of fear Second Chronicles chapter 32 go ahead and turn there. I'm gonna read for you in Ezekiel chapter 2 verse 6 The Bible says in Ezekiel 2 verse 6 and thou son of man be not afraid of them neither be afraid of their words Though briars and thorns be with thee and thou doest dwell amongst scorpions be not afraid of their words Nor be dismayed at their look Though they be a rebellious house. So he's saying hey Ezekiel. I'm gonna tell you what to preach I'm gonna have you preach all this stuff and though you're gonna have some reprobates around you You're gonna have some thorns you're gonna have some scorpions around you, you know, it's not talking about literal thorns and scorpions It's talking about people. Don't be afraid of their faces. Don't be afraid of their looks You know what you get up and preach the Word of God as I've told you to do it And I'm gonna be with you. I'm gonna help you. I'm gonna protect you And he told the same thing to Jeremiah don't look at their faces Don't be afraid of their dirty looks and their dirty faces They show you and look as a preacher when you get up here any person that's preached behind this pulpit has probably had some kind Of salty look from their way. There's something you were saying and look, it's not what you're saying It's what the Bible says Right, and so people get mad over what the Bible says and they get upset about what the Bible says and they're like Well, you just don't understand. I'm afraid, you know, this is my special reason for being afraid. It's wrong It's wrong. It's not of God So, like I said Jesus uses this exact phrase being not afraid seven times he uses this phrase in Mark chapter 5 Verse 36. I had you turn to a verse didn't I? What was that verse? I had you turn to 2nd Chronicles 32 7 be strong and courageous Be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria nor of all the multitude that's with him for there be more With us than with him and now this is Elijah the prop Elisha the prophet and he's saying hey God He basically tells God to show them how many people how many hosts of angels and how many hosts are on our side And then God opens his eyes so he can see the spirit world and he sees That they do truly have more than what the army that they were facing And so sometimes we can't see in our eyes of faith don't see very well Sometimes we get afraid of things but remember look each and every person I believe has a guardian angel Maybe you have maybe some people need to have two because they're always messing up and you know The angels try to you know help you. I don't know But I do believe that we do have guardian angels as saved people that the Bible says that this the spirits These angelic beings are ministers of them than half that are that are saved They're ministers for us for those that are gonna inherit eternal life And so they've minute just like Jesus had angels administered to him when he was tempted of the devil We also have angels that minister to us. We just don't see we can't see that so So mark chapter 5 verse 36 says as soon as Jesus heard the word that was spoken He said unto the ruler of the synagogue be not afraid Only what believe he wants us to believe he wants us to have faith You know and he last Thursday I preached about this how you know, he said, you know helped out My aunt the guy said that helped out my unbelief You know, we are have a hard time believing sometimes and sometimes we need to see to go to Jesus and say hey Will you help my unbelief Lord? Will you help me to not be afraid and when you're afraid it's irrational It's not of God. So guess who you need to go to to get that fear taken out of you need to go to God so acts chapter Now the Apostle Paul every town he walked in I'm sure that there was a little bit of anxiety Especially after he was beaten by rods thrice. He was shipwrecked twice He was stoned to death basically and he was beaten Several times and thrown out of the city. I'm sure he had a little bit of anxiety about going soul-quoting Didn't he you know, we don't have that anxiety. We have a fear of oh, maybe someone's gonna tell us the Blankety-blank you and slam the door in our face. What's what how does that hurt you? I'm just like, okay next door You know and God's gonna deal with that person If someone attacks you out soul-quoting, you know, just you know, do your karate kid on him. No, I'm just kidding. Don't do that But look how often does that happen? It's happened one time in our church I'm not gonna rehash the story The tale has been told many times but But you know, look the person still live they're still in our church You know, they still look as good as the day it happened Maybe a little bit uglier. No, I'm just kidding Just joking, but anyway So look look turn to Acts chapter 18 and look how God deals with Paul And I can understand how Paul would be a little bit anxious about going someplace Look, if you've gotten beat down as many times as he did and went through as much stuff You know, the Bible says that I must show him how much how great things he much suffer for my name's sake So, you know Showed Paul the things that he would have to suffer and look at Acts 18 verse 9 But God was also with him and protected him says then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision Be not afraid but speak and hold not thy peace for I'm with thee and no man shall suffer Set on me to hurt thee or I have much people in this city And so Paul was comforted by the Lord that day and he what did he do and he continued there a year and six months teaching the Word of God Among them. I don't know what it was about this particular place that made Paul anxious and made Paul afraid But God said you know what don't be afraid But speak hold not thy peace. Don't be afraid to preach the gospel Don't be afraid to preach God's commandments in this city because I'm with you I'm not gonna let any man hurt you or set on thee to hurt thee now Let's look at John chapter 14 verse number 17 John chapter 14 verse number 17 The Bible says here in is our love made perfect that we may have boldness in the day of judgment Because as he is so are we in this world there is no fear in love but perfect love Casteth out fear, you know what if you're saved today You don't have anything to fear because guess what the moment you close your eyes. You're gonna wake up with Jesus Okay, and it says perfect love casteth out fear. He's telling us Hey, don't be afraid you know who needs to be afraid the people that have fear says because fear hath torment He that feareth is not made perfect in love But how I'm gonna try to exhort you seven ways to next Sunday all right That this is not this fear is irrational And I've noticed the irrational fear, and I you know what I who I expect to be fearful I expect the world to be fearful Just like when they come back and they see the Lord Jesus Christ And they see that he's revealed from heaven, and he comes back to get his Saints. They're gonna be really afraid They're gonna. They're gonna hide in the dens and caves of the earth and say to the rocks and mountains fall on us Because the great day of his wrath has come They're gonna be afraid But you know who doesn't have to be afraid us We don't have to be afraid so again. I expect the world to be afraid I expect that you know I had a call from my grandpa, and he knows that I travel around a lot And he called me, and he wasn't you know he was trying to do something nice and just warned me that the first Person that got it in California was taken to a Sacramento area hospital And he was like worried that I would because he knows I go to Sacramento sometime And I said grandpa. I'm not really worried about it. Honestly. He's like what you know he was He was he was he is worried about it. You know he's he's an older He's you know he's pretty old now, and that's what this virus is killing is mostly Older people elder people and so then of course That fear was trying to be passed on to me, but I look I don't live in a world of fear right I just don't I don't care. You know if God's gonna kill him with the coronavirus, and maybe I did something to deserve it That's why I look at it, so You know so if I die of it, then maybe I did something wrong But all have sinned and come short of the glory of God so don't get all high and mighty on me All right But you know this fear is passed on to my mom and my mom lives with us, and she's afraid and she's Trying to buy you know everybody's bought up all the masks Can somebody explain to me the toilet paper thing though like? The clown being at home for a long time like all these grocery services of doubled and tripled their businesses Where the online services will look on and deliver it to your house, so why not people are just gonna be shut-ins With their mountains of toilet paper and their paper towels and all this their their Clorox wipes And all this other stuff Their masks you know I could only get two math you know I or somebody told me yesterday that Walmart was selling Hand sanitizer for $150 a bottle for just like a bottle like that So It's like come on people you're really that scared, but you know what well I do expect the world to be afraid when I told my mom I wasn't afraid she got mad at me And it's just like well whatever mom you know. I don't know how does it feel how does it feel to live in fear? You know it must suck So but obviously I tried to encourage her a little bit. You know, but she She's a little afraid I expect people that don't go to church that don't Have the faith They're supposed to have would be afraid of something like this I Expect the world to flip out and get hysterical and guess what they are being that way Well, maybe you should unplug Fox News or CNN or MSNBC or You know Unsubscribed from Fox 12 on Facebook Tim oh no, I'm just kidding I'm subscribed to Maybe you should unsubscribe from the Babylon be It's my favorite news source anyway But you know I expect that I expect the worldly people to get hysterical and to flip out You know I don't expect to be afraid you know who I don't expect to get hysterical You know who I don't expect to be afraid and fearful about this thing God's people That's who I don't expect right and You know it's it's just sad to me the people that I know that are saved are living in fear over this thing And maybe you've had some fearful thoughts about it I'm not like trying to be super mean here But you know like I said one of the points of my sermon is to give you a spiritual kick in the pants To help you to reel that fear back in and say hey, you know what I'm wrong God you're right I know I shouldn't be afraid and Just repent of that right So let me teach you a principle as the Word of God this morning I'll try to skip through I have a lot of scripture verses here, but maybe I won't read all of them Maybe you'll get it after maybe the first story. Let's look about let's look at what happened with Zedekiah and Jeremiah chapter 38 Let's look at Zedekiah Look at his example, so this is the principle. I want to teach you about this morning is that The thing that you are afraid of the most is probably going to be the thing that happens to you Because you're not living by faith You're living in fear And if God commands you not to be living in fear And that's what you do you operate out of that level of fear then guess what's gonna happen to you. You're probably gonna be Judged with the thing that you fear the most You know if you're afraid of spiders A spider's gonna crawl across your face or something I don't know that's just an example We got to overcome. You know I used to be deathly afraid of spiders when I was a kid I just I had a black widow crawl up my leg one time I think I've told the story before a long time ago, but I had a black widow crawl my bare leg one time And I said a four-letter word that I shouldn't have said I was ten years old jumped out of the back of the truck while I was driving And kept running landed on my feet Here It's true though, I'm serious my brother was there he was the witness But you know after that I was afraid of spiders, but you know what I just got over it I just I decided you know what I'm not gonna live in fear with spiders Not every spider is a black widow not every spider is a poison spider. They can't all hurt you I don't like when they get on me. I brush them off real fast Get the blowtorch out But it's it's it's not good to have an irrational fear of things like that so look at Jeremiah chapter 38 verse 14 the Bible says Then Zedekiah the king Sent and took Jeremiah the prophet unto him into the third entry what that was in the house of the Lord and the king said unto Jeremiah This is so Jeremiah's basically told him over and over again that the judgment is gonna fall on Jerusalem. It's gonna be destroyed Everybody's gonna be killed pretty much people will be taken away captive into the land of Babylon and They're fighting against this and Jeremiah keeps telling all you gotta do is just turn You know turn yourself over give up and not none of these things are gonna happen to you, but he just won't listen He says I'll ask you a thing hide nothing from me then Jeremiah said unto Zedekiah if I declared unto thee wilt thou not surely put me to death and If I give thee counsel wilt thou not hearken unto me so Zedekiah the king swears secretly Unto Jeremiah saying as the Lord liveth that made us this soul I will not put thee to death neither will I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah Thus saith the Lord God the God of hosts the God of Israel that thou will sure Assuredly go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes Then thy soul shall live and this city that shall not be burned with fire and thou shalt live And thine house. So what's he telling me? He's prophesying good. Thanks to him if he just gives up, right? But here's what he says in verse 18 But if thou will not go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes Then shall this city be given into the land Excuse me the hand of the Chaldeans and they shall burn it with fire and thou shalt not escape out of their hand and Zedekiah the king said unto Jeremiah What's he say? I'm afraid I Am afraid of the Jews that are falling to the Chaldeans lest they deliver me into their hand and they mock me So what's he afraid of he's afraid of people making fun of them because that's what mocking someone is So Jeremiah just gets done telling him. Look this is what's gonna happen to you You're all gonna die This the city's gonna be burnt with fire and you and your family are gonna die and he's afraid of His friends making fun of them That's an irrational fear, isn't it? That's a dumb fear to have after Jeremiah just told him the word of the Lord verse 20 But Jeremiah said they shall not deliver thee obey I beseech thee the voice of the Lord which I speak unto thee So it shall be well unto thee and thy soul shall live You know, I read it like that because that's the way I think that Jeremiah said it to us like look dude Just obey what God says he's giving you an out here And he says but if thou refused to go forth This is the word that the Lord has showed me and behold all the women that are left in the king of Judas house shall be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes and those women shall say thy friends have set on thee and Have prevailed against thee thy feet are sunk in the mire and they are turned away back So they shall bring out all thy wives and thy children to the Chaldeans and thou shalt not escape out of their hand But shalt be taken by the hand of the king of Babylon and thou shalt cause this city to be burned with fire Then said Zedekiah into Jeremiah Let no man know of these words and thou shall not die So he's going back on his word here. And basically what's he saying? I don't I'm not I don't care what you say I'm not gonna listen to what you say says what if the prince the prince is here that I have talked with thee and they come unto thee and say unto thee declare Unto us now that thou hast said unto the king hide it not from us and we will not put thee to death also what the king said unto thee Then thou shalt say unto them I presented my supplications before the king that thou would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house and so basically he's just telling them Here's what you need to say if they come to you and ask you the truth about what we talked about All right, so turn turn your chapter over to chapter 39 verse 1 Chapter 39 verse 1 in Jeremiah the Bible says so this is what happens This is the result of him not obeying the voice of the Lord of him being afraid more afraid of his friends and what the Other people think about him than what God says to him All right Jeremiah 39 verse 1 says in the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah in the tenth month came Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and his army against Jerusalem Beseech it and the eleventh year of Zedekiah in the fourth month the ninth day of the month The city was broken up and all the princes of the kings of Babylon came in and sat in their middle gate even neglashazzar Sam Gerenibo Man, I didn't practice these words. Sarge Sarshish shim and rabs aris and Neg, neglashazzar I don't know. I'm not saying it right good night Rab mag with I need brother Eli we come up here and read for me With all the residue of the princes of the kings of Babylon it came to pass that when Zedekiah the king of Judas saw them And all the men of war then they fled and went out of the city by night By the way of the king's garden by the gate betwixt the two walls and he went out of the way of the plane but the Chaldeans army pursued after them and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho and when they had taken him they brought him Up to Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon and to ribble in the land of Hamath where he gave judgment upon him And what was the judgment exactly what the Bible says? said was happened to him then the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zedekiah and rip live before his eyes and The king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah moreover He put Zedekiah's eyes put out Zedekiah's eyes and bound him with chains to carry him to Babylon poked his eyes out And the Chaldeans burned the king's house and the houses of the people of fire and break down the walls of Jerusalem And Nebuchadnezzar Dan the captain of the guard carried away captive Into Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city and those that fell away That fell to him with the rest of the people to remain but Nebuchadnezzar Dan the captain of the guard left of the poor of the people which had nothing in the land of Judah and gave them vineyards and fields at the same time So what ended up happening? Well, because he refused to listen because he was afraid his whole family died his fault His whole family was killed before his eyes And the last thing he saw was his children being killed in their eye and his eyes were poked out right after that The last memory you have with your eyeballs is your kids being killed and why did that happen? You know why it happened because he refused to listen to the word of the Lord He had an out he gave him an out. God was merciful to him and what he do He ignored what the Bible said he ignored what the Prophet told him and guess what happens when you ignore what the Bible says Then there's gonna be a judgment upon you Now let's look at Numbers chapter 13 verse number 25 Numbers chapter 13 verse number 25. This is also a lengthy scripture Thing but you got to have it for the context. So Numbers chapter 13 verse 25 and so Got Joshua had sent out the spies to spy out the land Okay and in verse 25 it says and they returned from searching the land after 40 days and they went and came to Moses and Aaron to all the congregation of the children of Israel into the wilderness of Perun to Kadesh and brought back word unto them and to the congregation and showed them the fruit of the land and They told him and said we came into the land whether thou sent us and surely it floweth with milk and honey And this is the fruit of it Nevertheless the people be strong that dwell on the land and the cities are walled and very great and moreover we saw the children of Anak there and the Amalekites dwell in the land in the south and the Hittites and the Jebusites and the Amorites dwell in the mountains and The Canaanites dwell in the sea by the sea and by the coast of Jordan and Caleb stilled the people before Moses And said let us go up at once and possess it for we are able to overcome it But the men that went up with them said we'd be not able to go up against the people for they're stronger than we 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 had gone to search it is a land that eateth up the inhabitants thereof and all the people that we saw in it are men of great stature and There we saw the Giants the sons of Anak which come of the Giants and we were in our own sites as grasshoppers So that we were in their sight. So what are they saying? They're saying guess what these people are too tough for us to beat we're afraid of them You need to be afraid of them, too. Let's not go Let's not fight against them right after God already said that they were gonna be able to take over the land and defeat their enemies So let's skip ahead into the story to Numbers chapter 14. The Bible says in Numbers 14 verse 27 How long shall I bear with this evil congregation? This is God speaking which murmur against me I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel, which they murmur against me Saying to them as I as truly as I live saith the Lord as you have spoken to my ears So will I do to you your carcasses shall fall in the wilderness and all that were numbered of you according to your whole Number from 20 years old and upward which have murmured against me doubtless. You shall not come into the land concerning ice, which I swear to make you dwell there and save Caleb the son of Jeff Ooni and Joshua the son of none but your little ones Which he said should be a pray them will I bring in and they will they shall know the land which you have despised But as for you your carcasses They shall fall in the wilderness and your children shall wander in the wilderness 40 years and bury your whoredoms Until your carcasses be wasted in the wilderness after the number of the days which you search the land Even 40 days each year for a year shall you bury your inequities even 40 years and he shall know my breach of promise I the Lord have said and I surely will do it unto this evil congregation that are gathered together against me in the wilderness They shall be consumed and there they shall die and the men Which Moses sent to search the land who returned and made the congregation of murmur against them by bringing up a slander upon the land Even those men that did bring up the evil report upon the land died by the plague before the Lord But Joshua the son of none and Caleb the son of Jeff Ooni Which were of the men that went to search the land lived still So God promised them that he was gonna let them go to the and go into the Promised Land and everything But now God breached his promise He said because a while because they were afraid and you know What happens when people live in the spirit of fear in our church today? If someone lives in the spirit of fear, and they pass that fear on to other people You know what God's gonna be displeased but the whole congregation because of that it's wicked It's not of God. It's not a spirit of God. It's a spirit of fear And that spirit of fear comes from the devil look at what it says in verse 39 and Moses told these saints under the children of Israel and the people mourn greatly and They rose up early in the morning They got them up into the top of the mountain saying lo we be here and will go up into the place which the Lord of promise for we have sinned and Moses said wherefore now do you transgress the commandment of the Lord? But I but it shall not prosper go not up for the Lord is not among you that you be not Smitten before your enemies for the Amalekites and the Canaanites Are there before you and he shall fall by the sword because you're turned away from the Lord Therefore the Lord will not be with you But they presume to go up to the top To the hilltop nevertheless the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord the Moses departed not out of the camp Then the Amalekites came down and the Canaanites and dwelt in that hill and smote them and disconfited them even unto Horma So I know the long length of Scripture, but listen Happen the spirit of fear crept in to the church the spirit of fear crept into the congregation and it caused The whole generation to fall. Do you see why I'm preaching this this morning because it's very important Did you understand that you should not have that spirit of fear? And look what happened. They you know, they went without faith and tried to fight these battles and they got smoked They got destroyed they got beat down Because God was not with them anymore and he took away that promise from them Now the last one I'll show you is from 1st Kings chapter 19 verse 1 1st Kings chapter 19 verse 1 The Bible says this and Ahab told Jezebel all that Elijah had done This is after that He destroys the 450 prophets of Baal right and with all how he had slain all the prophets with the sword and Jezebel sent the messenger under Elijah saying so let the gods do to me and More also if I make not my life is the life of one of them to as The life of one of them by tomorrow at about this time and when he saw that He arose and went for his life and came to Beersheba which belongeth to Judah and left his servant there So Elijah after this great victory he gets told a read a letter from a From this little witch right that said that she was gonna kill him by this time tomorrow And so what did he do after? Slaying 450 of the prophets of Baal and making them look stupid in front of the whole congregation He runs for his life over some little lady you know this witch this wicked person this prophetess of Baal and So, you know and look Elijah was a great man of God. I'm not taking anything away from Elijah He was a great man of God, but he Got he allowed the spirit of fear to creep into him didn't right and so what's he do? you know, I just read this I preached about this a little while ago about being depressed and And how Elijah got depressed and all that seems afraid But I want to skip through to the verse chapter 19 verse 9 and I'll show you something here That's pretty interesting And he came thither unto the cave and lodged there and behold the word of the Lord came to him and he said unto Him what doest thou here Elijah? And he said I have been very jealous for the Lord God of hosts for the children of Israel forsaken my covenant thrown down thine Alters and slain thy prophets with the sword and I even I only am left and they seek my life to take it away He's afraid He's afraid so it says and he said go forth and stand upon the mountain before the Lord and behold the Lord passed by and The great and strong wind rent the mountains and break in pieces the rocks before the Lord But the Lord was not in the wind and after that after the wind and earthquake but the Lord was not in the earthquake and after the earthquake of fire, but the Lord was not in the fire and after that a still small voice You know people are looking for God in the wrong places today People are looking for God and the rock concerts that are at some of these churches people are looking for God in Fox me and watching Fox News You know most of these pastors and independent Baptist churches they post more about politics than they do about about God They're looking for God in the wrong place is looking for some man to take care of them Oh, please save us don't run from the coronavirus. You didn't get serious about God Because Trump is not going to be the one who sees us Neither is Bernie for that matter He's even more wicked But look people are looking for God in the wrong places look he wasn't God was not found in the wind was he He wasn't found at Fox. He's not found on Fox News Okay, he wasn't with you know, God wasn't in the earthquake You know, God didn't say I'm gonna reveal myself on Facebook He's you know, he says he was on the earthquake and he was not in the fire either You know, he wasn't on the YouTube comments He wasn't on the news channel that you're watching whatever it is That's making you afraid. You know where God is He's he's in this. He's a still small voice And you know what? If you read this book, you better be listening to the still small voice of God Look, I'm up here preaching to you. I might be have a loud voice today Well, look I'm preaching to you with the still small voice says I'm preaching to you what the Bible says about who cares what Fox News says who cares what Facebook says who cares? What the media says look you gotta get your direction from the Word of God You gotta get your direction from this book the still small voice in this book and you know what it says God is not giving us the spirit of fear But a power and a love and a sound mind He's not giving us the spirit of fear you got that spear from somebody else and you need to get that spirit out of your life Don't be afraid. Don't be afraid fear not And you know what Elijah went off and did great things for God after that But he was afraid and God straightened him out Didn't he and we need to look at the still small voice of God in this book and look I'm preaching to you that still small voice today Listen to the Bible listen to what the Bible says read the Bible Read what the Bible says because those examples that I gave to you look Good things didn't happen when they didn't go with the commandments bad things happen to them the worst Possible things that could be imagined happened to Zedekiah why because he wouldn't listen to the Word of God Why was Elijah running for his life from a little old lady the spirit of fear crept into him from the devil Okay, and so and same thing with the spies of Jericho God was about to give him the land and then what ended up happened to him when they disobeyed the Word of God They all got destroyed They couldn't they couldn't even leave the promised land So look if your plan is to stay home because that you're afraid of the corner coronavirus getting out of church guess what the Bible says to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together as the manner some is but some but Exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching Not so much the last as you see the coronavirus approaching We need to fear God over some stupid virus Revelation 21 verse 7 says he that overcometh shall inherit all things and I'll be his God and he shall be my son But guess what as soon as you become my son, I'm gonna kill you with the coronavirus. That's stupid That's an irrational fear. It's an irrational thought But you know what the Bible does say in Revelation chapter 21 verse 8 says but the fearful It's a sin to be fearful, did you know that? but the fearful and unbelieving and the Invomitable and murderers and whoremongers and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars shall have their part in the lake Which burnt with fire and brimstone, which is the second death. Hey, do you want to be listed with the fearful? Do you want to be listed as someone who's afraid to go to church because of this or that? Or you were afraid to get baptized because there's a community pool. That's ridiculous There's chlorine in the pool what's wrong with you Yeah, Jesus commanded us to be baptized did he not Matthew 28 verse 18 says that Jesus came and spake unto them saying all power is given unto me in heaven and earth Go ye therefore and teach all nations baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost Unless the coronavirus comes and then you should be afraid to get dunked in a community pool Is that what it says? No, it doesn't say that says teachings them to deserve all things whatsoever I have commanded you and lo I am with you always even up to the end of the world Amen, all power is given to Jesus in heaven and earth and you know what he said don't get baptized That's the first thing you're supposed to do after you get saved is get baptized. Why? Cuz God said so that's why what reason what other reason you have to have But I'm afraid Look I think I've proved down the shadow of a doubt that we're not supposed to be afraid we're not supposed to live in fear and Back to the church attendance thing. Okay, I Jumped the gun there. I want to show you the whole passage here. Let's look at Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 Because look I understand people are afraid of getting sick I understand people are afraid of this and that but look just practice some good hygiene and you won't have to worry about that all talk about that the end of the sermon, but Hebrews chapter 10 verse 25 says not forsaking the assembly of ourselves together as the manner of some is Forsaking means hey, I'm not gonna go to church It says but exhorting one another and so much the more as you see the day approaching What day the day of Christ the day that Christ comes back? He says go to church more not less But isn't it funny? the people go to church less than they go more the opposite of what God is saying and Guess what just like Zedekiah you're giving you know, look you're not gonna be free from this after I read these scriptures So you're gonna you know, when you say well, I just you know I don't care about going to the Bible doesn't say to go to church every three times a week. Okay Says go so much the more as you see the day approaching So if we have three services a week that you can go to you should probably try to go to them Obviously if you live it far away, I don't expect you to do that, but I expect that people should go to church Right. So look it says for verse 26 for if we sin Willfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth that remains no more sacrifice for sins But a certain fearful looking for the judgment and fiery indignation Which shall devour the adversaries? So what should you look for the same fiery judgment and indignation? That's gonna happen to those people Guess what God's gonna get on your case because you're willfully sinning and not going to church Is that what it's talking about or not? Am I taking this out of context? Am I trying to fear monger you? No, I'm sure why I am I'm trying to have you have the fear of the Lord, which is what you should have Says he that despised Moses law died without mercy under two or three witnesses of how much sore punishment Suppose II that he be thought worthy who hath trodden under the foot the Son of God and hath counted the blood of the covenant Wherewith he was sanctified and unholy thing and guess what if you'd say, you know the blood of the what is the church? The church is where we you know that what Christ died for and you're gonna say, you know, it's an unholy thing It's gonna it's gonna defile me. I'm gonna be Coronavirus when I come to church You know, that's basically what you're saying. It's an unholy thing. It's an it's an unclean thing. I can't go So watch online says and have done despite the spirit of grace You've been given the spirit of grace if you just say, you know what? I'm gonna lay out of church because I'm afraid if you say I'm not gonna get baptized I'm afraid if you say I'm not gonna go sowing him because I'm afraid Then guess what God's not gonna hold you guiltless over that Says for we know him that has said vengeance belongeth unto me. I will recompense saith the Lord and again What does it say the Lord shall judge his people So guess what when you're laying out because you think the coronavirus is gonna be here if you're just not doing something that God Commanding you to do guess what's gonna happen to you? The thing that you fear the most is the thing that's gonna happen to you So you can bolt the doors you can have a clean room at home You can you know have all your stuff delivered and spray with hand sanitizer and all this other stuff comes into the door But guess what if God, you know God's gonna judge you for the thing that he commanded you to do and instead you decide to be afraid of something else Guess what the coronavirus is gonna come right up your nose and right in your brain The thing that you fear the most is what's gonna happen to you Bible says it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God You know what you should be afraid of you should be afraid of that. I'm afraid of those statements So Luke chapter 12 verse 4, I'll have you turn over there Luke chapter 12 verse 4. I'm getting close to wrapping this up Luke chapter 12 verse number 4 the Bible says and I say unto you my friends be not afraid of them that kill the body Would that include a virus that could kill you Yeah, and after that have no more that they can do but I will forewarn you whom you shall fear fear him Which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell Yay, I say unto you fear him. Who should we fear today? We should fear God we should fear Him that could kill the body and throw you into hell now obviously if you're saved He's not gonna throw you into hell, but you know, he will judge his people Okay Says are not five sparrows sold for two farthings and not one of them is forgotten before God But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered he had it's not that he knows You know, he knows the number of how many hairs each person in this room has on their head That's how much he loves us. That's how much he cares for us and so why would we fear a little bug that you can't even see and Be afraid of that over being afraid of God That makes zero sense He says fear not therefore You're more of more value than many sparrows God loves you more than the birds. God loves you more than the bees God loves you more than the Bears God loves you more than the dogs and the cats and else in this world He loves us more than anything our hairs on our head or number. I don't know how many I have right here It's not as much as I have right here And I can see some of you are in the same boat as I am maybe worse I'll tell you what. God knows how many hairs are on your head regardless So again, so here's some questions to answer Did God call you to serve him just so he could kill you with the corona virus that what he did? Did God ask you to be baptized just to kill you for not obeying him and to get baptized at a public pool? That what he did. He's like, oh, yeah, go ahead and you know move your whole family over here Get baptized And then as soon as you go to the public pool You're baptized and you die like three days later or something. That's stupid. That's irrational fear Does God command you to not forsake the assembling together at church every week so that he can kill you with some plague Does he want you to just skip church? No, he doesn't he wants you to go and do what he says and then those things won't come upon you Does that make sense? I mean the sermon makes sense to you this morning. I hope it does So Let me ask you this part. Oh vow of little faith. Oh vow that's afraid of everything Oh vow that's afraid of the corona virus coming and killing them in their sleep How does it feel to live in fear? It probably sucks You know what you don't have to live in fear And you know what I'm only asking this question because I don't understand it Doesn't compute. I've been afraid of things in my life. I'll admit that but I don't live in fear. I Don't have two hand sanitizers strapped to a helmet, but I can squirt on my hands at all times You know, I mean, I'm not walking around with a bottle of hand sanitizer You know we did the Institute of the corona fist bump All right get to that in just a second, but Yeah, explain how how it feels to live in fear after the service to me somebody because I don't understand it because God Does not Give us that spirit and you know what? I don't have that spirit and I don't want that spirit creeping into our church I don't want you going around if you're the one that's scared don't pass on Your unbelief and your fear to other people in this church How do we stop the coronavirus from getting us? Number one fear God and keep his commandments fear God and keep his commandments number two Take care of your Ferrari Your body is like a Ferrari you don't put stickers on it. Okay number one, but you should treat it well eat healthy You know eat stuff that's gonna give you some kind of a nutrition that'll help you You If your truck but here here's the thing And I'm gonna say this I'm gonna try to be really nice about this Okay If you're trusting in your apple cider vinegar garlic drops colloidal silver thieves oil iron droplets elderberry syrup organic brand of fill-in-the-blank Non-gmo grass-fed raw milk raw goats milk instead of the Lord to keep you healthy. You're just like the Baxter's are Because look I just read you a long list of stuff that's not even the whole list But look listen to me if you took that stuff literally every single day. You're probably gonna be sick from taking all that stuff I'm serious Look if you're trusting in something besides God to keep you healthy, then you're trusting in the wrong thing If you're trusting in the hospital and the doctors and everything else to keep you healthy Guess what? You're trusting in the wrong thing You're trusting in Western medicine and all that stuff. And look, I know I'd like to harass you guys about this stuff But listen to me. There's got to be a balance in your life Yeah, all right, and so while I'm getting onto this because what are the backsters do like well If I just get all these vaccines, they don't be hoping and I'll be like, you know, I'll be super never sick You're gonna get sick You will get sick Every year guess what I get sick and sometimes more than once it's life Can't stop it. We live in a fallen world now. Can you do things to help you to not get acid? Yeah, look, I'm not against you taking your elderberry syrup and all that other stuff. Look, I'm not against it. I'm just saying That how are you different from a boxer when if you know what I didn't have my The virus injection I'm gonna get sick it's the same thing you're being you're living in fear God's not giving us the spirit of fear. Look people get mad at me all they want about that stuff, but it's the truth It's the truth And look if you don't want to have Western society medicine and all that stuff when you get sick knock yourself out Use whatever you want. I don't care That's not my business But you know It is my business to teach you the Word of God and I'm gonna tell you what if you live in fear of the fact That you didn't take, you know, you didn't eat organic grain beef or grass-fed beef this week You're living in fear stop it Don't be the other side extreme. Just be normal Isn't that what Pastor Amanda said be normal just be kids some people just be normal be normal Just have a balance You know Don't be walking around being afraid of everything Sanitation here's another way we can help ourselves wash your hands when you go You know why you know just be clean Galatians chapter 2 or Leviticus chapter 15 verse 13 says and when he hath an issue his cleanse of his issue then shall number himself seven days for his cleansing and Wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in running water. That's like a shower, right and shall be clean You know what? God says we're supposed to do. He doesn't say get ninety nine point nine percent germs killing Stuff from the store, but I'm not saying that stuff doesn't work But God didn't say that it he didn't say wash your hands and whiskey He said bathe your body or bathe your flesh with water running water Soaps not bad. It makes you smell a little bit good Throw on a little deodorant Or whatever it is you use. Okay Union Jack or whatever. I don't know what's called Every man's Jack whatever kind of healthy Underarm stuff you want to wear but there's tons of verses about washing your body and water Okay, have a good healthy lifestyle Wash yourself with water and look we've instituted Like I said the corona fist bump in this church and the Galatians chapter 2 verse 9 the Bible says And when James Cephas and John who seemed to be pillars perceived the grace that was given unto me They gave to me and Barnabas though right hands of fellowship right there It's right there in the Bible that we should go on to the heathen and they under the circumcision now in the Greek That means gave to me You know, it means gave to me the fist bump. That's what it says Saying that's a joke. All right, Joe doesn't really say that in the Greek. Okay, the right hands of fellowship So whether I shake your hand or I fist bump your hand Still give I'm still giving you the right hand of fellowship And if you mess with me, I'll give you the right hand of fellowship this way. No, I'm just kidding anyway So we're supposed to give the right hands of fellowship. That's cool, but it doesn't have to be a shake doesn't say shake Could be a bump. All right, and look quarantine is biblical. That's the last thing I'm gonna say Leviticus chapter 13 verse 3 says and the priest shall look on the plague of the skin of flesh and when the hair is the plague Is turned white and the plague in his sight is deeper than the skin of his flesh It is a plague of leprosy and the priest shall look on him and pronounce him unclean If the bright spot be white and the skin of the flesh and inside it is not deeper than the skin And the hair thereof be not turned white Then the priest shall shut up him that hath the plague seven years or seven days seven years seven days And the priest shall look upon him on the seventh day and behold if the plague of his right And his sight be at a stay and the plague spread not to the skin and the priest shall shut him up seven days more so look Quarantine is a biblical concept when you're sick and you got your nose is running and you're coughing Then stay home You want you want to not get the coronavirus then do it God says hey, you're sick quarantine yourself. That's cool That's fine, I don't have a problem with that But if you're afraid to come to church and you're not sick because other people are sick then you're fearing right you're in fear You're living in fear. You got the spirit of fear, and you got to knock it off alright So hopefully the sermon helped you today if anybody was on the fence about whether they're gonna I'm preaching to people that are in church this morning, so you know that's good, but there's people that aren't and There's people that who knows why they stay home, but they do so the saying Don't live in fear Wash your hands fist bump. Let's pray Lord. Thank you so much for this wonderful day Pray that you bless us as we go so wanting pray You'd give us a spirit of boldness as we go out to preach and Lord help us to Reach those people that are in most need of Christ and that we would be able to get some saved today Pray that you'd help us to not have a spirit of fear in an in a world and a nation that just promotes fear Continually Lord. I pray you'd help us Lord Help us not to have that spirit of fear creep into our church or into our lives And Lord you bless and take care of us in Jesus name. We pray amen