I am quite aware that some of you are expecting me to be speaking on mercy. The first disappointment is that I am not going to speak on mercy—not today. So I will not continue, right now at least, what I started a few weeks ago.
The thing the Lord has laid on my heart, partly due to recent events but more from a spiritual perspective, is this issue of fear.
When you look in the Word of God—and we will read some verses—there is one phrase that dominates throughout the Word of God: “Fear not.” Now, that is the title of the message. I will make that easy on you: Fear Not.
That phrase occurs again and again throughout Scripture. It occurs at least 365 times in different forms throughout Scripture. Now, in case you need help with that, that means there is enough for one day—one day, every day, of the full year: Fear not.
So this week, particularly as I have been before the Lord and He seemed to change my mind about what to share on, this was the thought that came to me. I hope that you can put up with my cold and at least try to understand. I will try to be as clear as I can.
But there are a few Scriptures, and already time is a burden. I have been told that I have fifteen minutes. Hallelujah. Those of you who know me know that is an impossible task.
Turn with me to Genesis 15:1.
After these things the word of the Lord came unto Abram in a vision, saying,
Fear not, Abram:
I am thy shield, and thy exceeding great reward.
Fear not, Abram.
Turn with me to Joshua 8:1.
And the Lord said unto Joshua,
Fear not,
neither be thou dismayed.
Turn with me to Isaiah 41:10. This is a small sampling, brothers and sisters, but perhaps it will help to set the tone.
Isaiah 41:10:
Fear thou not; for I am with thee:
be not dismayed; for I am thy God:
I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.
Turn in the New Testament to Matthew 10, beginning in verse 26. I think you are all familiar with this. This is the Lord Jesus speaking:
Fear them not therefore:
for there is nothing covered, that shall not be revealed;
and hid, that shall not be known.
What I tell you in the darkness, that speak ye in the light:
and what ye hear in the ear, that proclaim upon the housetops.
And be not afraid of them that kill the body,
but are not able to kill the soul:
but rather fear Him Who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?
and not one of them shall fall on the ground without your Father:
but the very hairs of your head are all numbered.
Fear not therefore.
Turn with me to Luke 8, concerning the story of Jairus’ daughter. I think many of you know this story. This phrase is in verse 50:
But Jesus hearing it, answered him,
Fear not:
only believe, and she shall be made whole.
Fear not; only believe.
And to His church, the Lord Jesus says in Luke 12:32:
Fear not, little flock;
for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
Now, Lord, we once again commit Your Word to You and ask You to help us to really understand this encouragement that comes from Your Word: fear not.
Lord, we pray for an anointing and a help for our physical condition, for our hearing, and for our speaking. Above everything else, we want the Lord Jesus to be exalted and to be heard. We pray that You will meet us today as we are together. In the name of Jesus. Amen.
Brothers and sisters, I think you are all aware of the recent terrorist attacks. I do not want to speak about terrorist attacks. I do not want to speak about America. That is not my burden whatsoever.
But it seems to me that the one thing that has happened since September 11, and specifically with the issue of the anthrax scare, is that it has produced a spirit of fear. That seems to be pervasive. You hear it everywhere. There is a spirit of fear. People do not know what to expect. They do not know what is coming.
As a matter of fact, I heard the other day that People magazine is coming out with a new special publication called Calming Our Fears. You know, that great help of all people—People magazine, that great source of comfort. I guess there were too many celebrity articles to think about.
Even Time magazine said that the next issue’s cover would be “The Fear Factor.” And even the other day, listening to the news—I think we have all been somewhat glued to the news—a senator came out and said, “Our greatest enemy is fear.”
Again, please understand: I do not want to talk about September 11. I do not want to talk about America. I do not want to talk about war. What I believe the issue is before God is that we understand, as believers, how to overcome in this issue of fear.
It seems to me to be no mistake that the Holy Spirit put “fear not” in the Bible 365 times, just to say to us as His people that there is sufficient grace for those who believe in the Lord Jesus, those who fear the living God, so that they do not need to fear in any circumstance whatsoever.
I believe that is the message. The profound message, when it comes to those two marvelous words, “fear not,” is, I believe, a great source of comfort to us.
Now, fear—I hope you stay with this, because there are a few points, and it appears I have to make these points very quickly. But it seems there are a few things that might help us as believers in this day.
And, brothers and sisters, that is not Cipro. I want to tell you from the very outset: I am not against you taking Cipro, but that is not going to be your prescription for fear. There is something far greater, far more powerful, far more peaceful, than Cipro ever was. If you need to take Cipro, take Cipro. That is okay. I am not against medicine, but that is not the point.
Fear can be overwhelming. I think most of us know that. There is the overwhelming power of fear.
Now, if you think that is giving ground to the enemy, just stay with me a little bit and perhaps we can be helped with this matter. But fear—for anyone who has known it, for anyone who has known the grip of fear, the power of fear—they know that fear has overwhelming power. It does.
I do not know if any of you have ever experienced a panic attack. I have. It is the most unsettling, the most horrendous—I do not even know the words to describe it. But if you have ever experienced fear in that way, you know that fear has overwhelming power.
Naturally, life is full of fear. That does not mean going to the dentist, although to you that may be a great phobia. There are people who are paralyzed with fear at the thought of going to the dentist. I am so thankful that I have a brother in the Lord who is my dentist, and actually, I do not mind. I just want to doze off at the dentist. So fear of the dentist is not my fear, I will tell you.
But life is full of fears. Life is full of anxieties. Yet, brothers and sisters, what I want to get at today goes beyond normal anxiety. I do not think we will ever be totally delivered from anxiety, because the Word of God makes it very plain:
Casting all your anxiety upon Him, because He careth for you.
In nothing be anxious;
but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving
let your requests be made known unto God.
Give it to the Lord.
Although life is naturally full of anxiety, there is something greater: the breaking of the bondage and the grip of unreasonable fear. There is a difference. Like I have said to you, if you have ever experienced it, if you have ever known it settle upon you, you know what I mean. It can be an incredible, overwhelming power.
Romans 8:15 describes fear in this way:
For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear.
Fear is bondage. Fear has such strong chains; it is greater than any iron that was ever produced. It has a prison greater than any cell that was ever made. Fear is bondage.
The second thing about fear is found in Hebrews 2:15. It says of the Lord Jesus that He might annul him who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and might set free all those who, through fear of death, all their lifetime were subject to bondage.
Brothers and sisters, do you know that there are people whose whole life is subject to the fear of bondage? Some people fear death so much that they cannot even live. But the Lord has a word for us: “Fear not.” That is His word.
In the last days, the Lord Jesus describes in Luke 21 the days when things are coming upon the earth, and He says that men’s hearts will fail because of fear and expectation of the things which are coming on the world.
Saints, I wonder if we are not getting to those days. That was a description of the last days. Fear can kill you. I do not know if you have ever thought about that. There is a spirit of bondage. It can hold you for the whole of your life, and it can kill you.
Now, I hope you do not think that is too negative. Stay with me. I read a story yesterday. We do not think fear can kill you.
There was a group of ten husbands, and they were pretty henpecked fellows, by the way. They feared their wives. Their great fear—none of you men are like that, so you will just bear with the humor—they were deathly afraid of their wives.
They decided to form their own henpecked men’s club. So these ten guys met in secret and never told their wives about the club. They met together and talked about their fear of their wives. Hard to imagine, is it?
Then one day, lo and behold, their wives found out about the meeting, and they came to the meeting. Those guys all scattered in absolute terror. It was unbelievable. One fellow stayed.
After they found themselves shivering, they grouped back together and said, “He is so brave. He is so brave. We need to make him president.”
So they went back, and he had fainted dead from fear.
Fear can kill you.
Brothers and sisters, sometimes I wonder if we believers are under a bondage from which we need to be released. Sometimes I wonder if we do not labor under a bondage that God needs to break.
Our testimony should not be one of fear, but one of faith.
They said of Ann Landers—I found this an astounding statistic—she received ten thousand letters a month, and she said that by and large, almost all of those letters dealt with one issue: fear. People are fearful.
A noted American internist said that ninety percent of chronic patients in this nation—ninety percent, astounding—the first symptom was fear. I wonder if the Lord does not need to break the spirit of fear.
Is there any hope for fear? Let me tell you another verse. In 1 John 4:18, it says:
There is no fear in love:
but perfect love casteth out fear,
because fear hath punishment.
Think of it: fear has torment.
The enemy loves to torment you. He knows your natural inclinations. He knows your temperament. He knows your personality. He can come against you, spiritually speaking, and take something like a magnifying glass and magnify that thing to such a degree that he can torment you.
I do not know if you have ever counseled anybody who has been under the bondage of fear, but if you have ever seen a person in torment, that is torment.
Now, is there any hope for us? If fear has this kind of overwhelming power, is there any hope for us?
Brothers and sisters, the good news from the Word of God is that there is more than just a little bit of hope. Turn with me to Isaiah 41:10 again.
There is one answer, at least to begin with, for believers in this matter of fear. The first thing, the main thing, that can break this overpowering, overwhelming power of fear is the overshadowing presence of the Lord Jesus.
That alone is the thing that can dispel fear.
Isaiah 41:10 says:
Fear thou not; for I am with thee:
be not dismayed; for I am thy God:
I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee;
yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.
Brothers and sisters, there is one cure to fear. “Fear not.” Now why? Is it just a word? Do we just tell one another all the time, “Fear not, fear not,” and if you say it 365 times, then all of a sudden people will not fear? That is not the cure to fear.
The cure to fear is: “I am with thee,” saith the Lord.
It is His overshadowing presence. Brothers and sisters, the cure we have against fear is not that the Lord just tells us not to fear. It is that He comes into those situations in His overshadowing presence, meets us in the midst of the darkness and trouble, and that presence becomes our peace.
Do you understand? If you miss that point, you miss the whole thing about “fear not.”
You remember in Psalm 23, David said:
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
for Thou art with me.
You know why? What does it say after that? “For Thou art with me.”
In that shadow, in that dark place, in that overwhelming place of fear, there was one answer: there was an overshadowing presence of God Himself, Who met David. He was able to walk through that valley of the shadow of death.
“Thou art with me” is the secret.
In the midst of a shadow of fear, the secret is the overshadowing presence of God Himself. Brothers and sisters, that is what you have been given.
He commits Himself to us. Isaiah 41:10 says, “I will strengthen thee. I will help thee. I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness.”
He does not just leave us alone. He will uphold us with the right hand of His righteousness.
In Psalm 91:1, we see this overshadowing presence:
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High
Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.
Now, brothers and sisters, fear is bondage. It casts a dark shadow. But there is an overpowering shadow of the presence of God that can lift us out of our fears. Oh, saints, what we need to do is lay hold of that.
That is the secret of David. That is the secret of those to whom the Lord appeared and spoke His own word, saying, “Fear not.” He did not just say to Abraham, “Fear not, Abraham.” He said:
Fear not, Abram:
I am thy shield,
and thy exceeding great reward.
Do you understand the difference? That is the cure.
This verse in Psalm 23 tells us that fear is often a shadow. The hardest fears to deal with are unreasonable fears. Have you ever tried to talk to someone under the bondage of unreasonable fear? It is a shadow. You cannot get your hands on it. It is a shadow. It is not real. But it is a very dark shadow.
It is like the valley of the shadow of death. Yet into that dark valley the Lord Himself can come. Into that dark valley, the Lord Jesus Himself can meet us. His committed presence is enough to lift us up.
When we know the secret—“I am with thee,” saith the Lord—then we can be delivered from fear.
Saints, this is what we have that the world does not have. The world is without this. All they see is their 401(k) going to the bottom. All they see is their nation at war. All they see is anthrax coming through the mail.
But we have the presence of the Lord. What peace! Would you remind one another of that? That is the way: the overshadowing presence.
I will tell you a little story, real quickly. I was tremendously afraid of the dark when I was a kid. My brother and sister used to stuff me into a closet. What they do to babies is amazing. They would stuff me into the closet and just try to scare me.
I had a fear of darkness that hung onto me until I was twenty years old. I will never forget one time when I was out on my bike in the middle of the night. It was an incredibly dark night, and I rode home—I set a land-speed record—looking behind me all the way.
I used to have trouble falling asleep because I was afraid of what would come into my room.
But I remember the night I met the Lord Jesus. It was such an overwhelming peace. For the first time, I heard that song, “Amazing Grace.” Leaving that place, all I could sing over and over was:
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved.
His overshadowing presence dissipated the fear. It was gone.
You can take me out any night you want to. Leave me anywhere you want to. It was gone.
It was not a method. It was not a pill. It was not anything. It was His overshadowing presence that delivered me from fear.
I will tell you another thing: I used to have a fear that I could not speak in public. Never could. And the Lord delivered me.
His overshadowing presence.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
for Thou art with me.
If you remember anything, brothers and sisters, remember this: “I will fear no evil; for Thou art with me.” That is the secret. Nothing else. No one else. Only Him.
Let me say something about that overpowering presence. You remember when the disciples were in the boat? These were sailors. These were men who were veterans of the sea. Yet when they were in that boat, a storm came up in Matthew 8 that was so overpowering that the waves came over the boat.
These seasoned veterans, who were not afraid of the sea, became overwhelmed with the power of fear. If you remember the story, they came to the Lord Jesus, Who was asleep, and woke Him. They said, “Lord, save: we perish.”
The Lord said, “O ye of little faith.” He rebuked the winds, and He rebuked the storm. The Word says there was a great calm.
Now take from this one lesson: it is the presence of the Lord alone that calms the storm.
Remember that. Do not ever forget that. Nothing else. These men knew the sea. They were not afraid of the sea, but they were overwhelmed by these conditions and these circumstances.
So the lesson to us is this: when you find yourself in overwhelming circumstances, it is the presence of the Lord that will calm the storm. The only solution. May the Lord help us.
The second thing that I wanted us to consider is the overpowering place of His Word.
Brothers and sisters, not only has He given us His presence for the darkest of situations; He has given us His Word for every situation.
Now, I have a fear—may I say that in context? I have a fear that we, as the people of God, particularly those of us in the United States who are so used to leisure, know so little about the Word of God. That is a fear.
We have to confess that we do not know the Word as we ought to know it. One of the things the Lord Jesus has given us to overcome our fears is His Word.
How we need to abide in His Word. How we need to know His Word. How, when we pray, we need to pray His Word. How we need to stand together on His Word.
If we do that, I think we can know a freedom from fear.
It was to Abraham that the Word of God came: “Fear not.” It was to Joshua that the Word of God came: “Fear not, neither be dismayed.” It was to Israel that the Word of God came: “Fear not, for I am with thee.” It was to His disciples that the Lord spoke: “Fear them not therefore.”
It was the Word that set them free.
In Revelation 1:17, the Lord says:
Fear not;
I am the first and the last,
and the Living One.
It is the Lord’s Word. Brothers and sisters, how we need to abide in the Word of God. That is a secret. Not only is it the presence of the Lord, but we need the Word of God.
I remember when I was saved. It seemed to be almost an audible voice shortly afterward that the Lord spoke this word to me in John 8:31-32:
If ye abide in My word,
then are ye truly My disciples;
and ye shall know the truth,
and the truth shall make you free.
What is the secret? It is abiding in the Word of God.
Oh, how we need to know the Word. Brothers and sisters, I think the one thing we need in this hour more than anything is to know the Word of God—the living Word of God—that will cause us to overcome.
Several words I want to leave with you: this is the Word of God. Stand upon it.
Romans 8:15-16:
For ye received not the spirit of bondage again unto fear;
but ye received the spirit of adoption,
whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Brothers and sisters, that is the Word of God. We can stand on it. We have not received a spirit of fear.
I cannot tell you how many times I have talked with people who, at that moment, seemed so bound. This little word, “You have not received a spirit of fear,” seemed to have liberating power.
We need to know that. Half the battle is knowing the source.
You can say to the Lord in the midst of being overwhelmed, “Lord, Your Word is very clear. We have not received the spirit of fear unto bondage.” That is the Word of God. Stand on it.
In Proverbs 3:25-26, write this down:
Be not afraid of sudden fear,
neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh:
for the Lord shall be thy confidence,
and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
Have you ever noticed that fear is often sudden? The enemy slips in something, and all of a sudden it seems to overtake you in an instant. But the Word of God upon which we need to stand is: “Be not afraid of sudden fear.”
Know its source. It is not an anthrax attack. Know its source. If you just know its source.
Fear has a grip. The way to begin to loosen that grip is to know the presence of the Lord and to stand upon His Word. Slowly, the grip begins to loosen. It cannot stay. It cannot stay.
Most of the time, we get caught up in our feelings. We get caught up in our emotions. We get caught up in our circumstances. Then the enemy seems to have us.
But if we know the overshadowing presence, and if we know the overpowering place of His Word, then we can stand. May the Lord help us.
Second Timothy 1:7 says:
For God gave us not a spirit of fearfulness;
but of power and love and discipline.
I cannot tell you the times I have prayed that prayer. When you have been rattled, when the enemy comes in and begins to rattle you, you can stand. The Lord has not given us a spirit of fear. He has given us a spirit of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
You can stand upon it. Oh, the secret is the Word of God.
Finally, there is a third thing. You need to understand this because it requires your involvement: the overcoming practice of faith.
Do we, brothers and sisters, knowing the presence of the Lord and knowing the Word of God, stand by faith in spite of the opposition? That is what it says in Ephesians 6:13: having done all, stand. The sense of it is: stand in spite of the opposition.
We need to know how to stand.
I think back to Luke 8:50, the story of Jairus’ daughter. This was an impossible situation. Death was all around. Jairus called and wanted the Lord to come see his daughter, but his daughter died. This was a situation of death—impossible.
The Lord’s words to Jairus were: “Fear not: only believe.” That is the secret.
Notice, it does not tell us to do a thing. It does not tell you to do a thing. It just says, “Believe.”
The overcoming practice of faith is the key to standing.
There has always been something about that story that bothered me. It seemed to be an interruption. Do you remember the woman with the issue of blood? That is in the middle of that story. I always thought, “Why is that in the middle of that story?” It never quite made sense to me.
It says this woman had an issue of blood for twelve years, and she had spent all her living. I think there is a reason, brothers and sisters. It is to tell us that we have absolutely nothing in ourselves of strength. You are all like that woman.
But she knew something, and we need to know the same thing. She said:
If I do but touch His garment,
I shall be made whole.
That is what she knew. That was her secret. “If I can only touch the hem of His garment.”
And she touched Him and was made whole.
Fear not. Only believe.
Brothers and sisters, may the Lord help us in this day. I believe that sometimes we underestimate the power of fear. It is very real. But I believe by God’s grace there is a word to the church, and that word to the church is throughout the Word of God: “Fear not.”
In that, He has provided His overshadowing presence, that we can abide under the shadow of His wings.
In that, He has provided the Word of God. That power of the Word, sooner or later, if you stand upon the Word, means fear has to yield. It cannot keep its grip. Truth is more powerful than lies.
Finally, if we engage and only believe, we can stand. May the Lord help us.
Lord, we commit these few thoughts to You. Our prayer is that You will help us, that we will have a testimony in this day to the world and to those who believe: that we know You as our peace; that we know Your presence; that we know Your Word; that we believe You are enough.
In that way, we can stand.
Lord, we thank You. Your Word to us is, “Fear not.” We praise You that You are sufficient for every day. We take that in the name of Jesus. Amen.