Fear

There are several types of Fear: the Fear of the Lord, things we ought to be afraid of, and things we ought not to be afraid of. When we finish discussing these things, we will look at what you can do to overcome the Spirit of Fear in your life.

I Fear of the LORD
Deut 10:12-22
A. Fear God-means to respect and honor him, to realize and confess how awesome and holy and righteous God is and how insignificant and sinful and wretched we are without Christ in comparison to His glory.
B. This Fear of the Lord is what drives us into the embrace of His grace.
C. For the Christian, this means recognizing that we are nothing (powerless) w/o God and not taking His grace for granted; again, revering and honoring God.

Romans 7:24-8:3
A While we possess a sin nature, God sent his son to rescue (free) us from our sinful nature. Because of this, there is no more condemnation for Christians.
B Condemnatory thoughts are from Satan, not God. The devil condemns, but God convicts us so we will come to him in repentance. To test a thought, ask yourself what is the end? Does it inflict “sorrow unto death” or “sorrow unto repentance”?

II What you should be afraid of.
Matthew 4:5-7
A) Do not put the Lord your God to the Test–if you are standing in the middle of oncoming traffic, you should be afraid of getting hit by a car!

B) Sin is like crossing the street when the light is green w/o a cross walk during rush hour. Even when forgiven, sin will often still have temporal consequences on this Earth.

III What you should not be afraid of

Psalm 27:1-3
A When God is with you, you need fear no more!
B) If you are afraid, most likely you either a) Don’t think God is with you (willing to help) or b) don’t believe that God is strong enough to help you.

Proverbs 29:25 Fear of man is a snare–Trusting God is the opposite of being afraid!
Isaiah 51:7-8 don’t fear men’s insults, they will be destroyed
Luke 12:4-7 don’t fear those who can destroy your body but can’t harm your soul

1 John 4:15-18 & 2 Timothy 1:7
A) Fear is a satanic strong hold
B) Fear robs you of your freedom in Christ and keeps you from bearing fruit.

IV Prescription:
Rebuke Satan with scripture and hand your fears over to the Lord in Prayer Example:
Acts 4:13-31–Sanhedrin orders Peter and John to stop preaching the gospel and threatens them.
A. It’s natural to be afraid in those circumstances. How do the Apostles handle the situation?

1) They say no to the Sanhedrins’ orders–they do not give in to fear!
2) They tell the Church what happened to them
3) They pray with the church,
What they pray:
a) They praise/worship God
b) They relate their circumstances to scripture
c) They tell God what is happening to them while acknowledging that God willed it to happen
d) They petition God for help-“enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness.”
4) God responded!
a) The meeting place was shaken
b) They were filled with the Holy Spirit
c) They spoke the word of God boldly
God granted their petition, and he will answer ours too– John 14:14-Jesus promises us that we may ask him for anything in his name and he will do it! (provided the request is righteous)