God's Word on
THE
SPIRIT OF FEAR
by: Pastor
Max Solbrekken, D.D.
"For I the LORD thy God will hold thy right
hand, saying unto thee, Fear not, I will help thee." (Isaiah 41:13)
MY PEACE I GIVE TO US -
LET NOT YOUR HEART BE TROUBLED
Jesus said, "Peace I
leave with you, My peace I give to you, not as the world gives do I give to
you. Let not your heart be troubled,
neither let it be afraid." (John 14:27)
THE WORD OF GOD STATES:
“Fear thou not, for I am with thee.”
Since God does not give
anyone the spirit of fear, it is evident that fear comes from Satan, and Satan
is the ENEMY of God. Satan is also
the enemy of man.
When Jesus' powerful blood
sweeps over our souls, fear must leave immediately! There is no room for
Satanic bondage of any kind in the life of a Christian.
"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." (Isaiah 41:10)
A marvelous story of
faith has come to us from the Second World War:
In the Battle of Britain, the German Luftwaffe rained down about
thirty-five thousand bombs upon London during nightly air raids, causing
terrifying fear and tremendous destruction and mayhem in large parts of the
city.
For months, as sirens wailed out warnings of approaching German
bombers, the general population automatically hurried toward the nearest Air
Raid Shelter! People learned to look after one another during the nightly raids
and the ’morning after’ walk abouts and clean-ups.
After a terrible night of bombardment, an elderly woman was not seen in
a certain neighborhood for several days. Her neighbors assumed that she had
either been killed by the falling bombs or that she had gone to the countryside
to escape the danger, disruption of life and incessant noise.
Sometime later, a neighbor spotted the elderly woman walking down the
street and articulated his happiness that she was alive and well.
"It’s nice to see you
back", he said."I have not been away", she replied."Where
have you been?" he asked."I’ve been at home", said the
woman."What have you been doing at home during the air raids?” inquired
the neighbor."Sleeping", she answered."How could you sleep with
all the noise and explosions?" he asked.
"Oh", she replied, "I was reading my Bible and found in Psalms
121: 4 where it declares that God doesn’t slumber nor sleep, so I thought
there was no point in both of us staying awake."
The Bible 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.” (Isaiah 41: 10)
WHAT IS FEAR? AND WHAT
DOES FEAR DO TO US?
“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."
(Isaiah 41:10]
Fear is a corrupting,
constricting and crippling agent! Fear corrupts us. Fear consumes the thoughts and controls the
mind. Fear is divisive, demeaning and destructive! It creates a divided heart
which brings only condemnation and confusion.
When we allow fear in our
minds and in our hearts, we are not allowing the Lord to give us the peace that
He promises us in the scriptures.
The Holy Scriptures declare:
“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.” (1 John 4: 17-18)
The Bible states,
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart, and lean not unto thine own
understanding. In all thy ways
acknowledge him, and He shall direct thy paths."
FEAR DESTROYS THE
PERFECT LOVE THAT GOD GIVES US
Fear destroys the perfect
love that God gives us by the unbelief it breeds in our hearts! When we put our full trust in the Lord, we
give him our troubles and our fears. We
are released from fear through the Lord Jesus Christ, and as we walk with Him,
read the Word of God and pray, he gives us perfect peace.
The Bible says, "Say to
them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance,
even God with a recompense: he will come and save you." (Isaiah 35:4)
It constricts the flow of
the Holy Spirit and reduces the fruit that faith produces! Its crippling effect
erodes the peace and joy that results from receiving Jesus Christ as Lord and
Saviour.
Why? Fear hampers the normal
functions of the Gifts of the Spirit, making victims and spiritual cripples of
servants and emissaries of our Lord.
The Bible states: ”But let
him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the
sea driven with the wind and tossed. For let not that man think that he shall
receive any thing of the Lord. A double minded man is unstable in all his
ways.” (James 1: 7-8)
FEAR IS THE UNIVERSAL
ENEMY
Fear is demeaning because it
makes you think, say and do things that makes you look foolish, puts you
outside the will of God and is out of character with Christian living! It is
destructive because it destroys your confidence in God and His Word and
therefore your fellowship with Him.
The Bible confirms:
”For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all
things. Beloved, if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence toward
God. And whatsoever we ask, we receive of Him, because we keep His
commandments, and do those things that are pleasing in His sight.” (1 John 3: 20-22)
What is the underlying cause
of condemnation? Plain and simple: Sin.And what is the antidote or solution for
the serious problem of sin? The answer in a nutshell, is the Blood of Jesus.
WHAT CAN WASH AWAY MY
SIN?
The Bible says: “If we walk
in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another and the
blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sins. If we confess our
sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us and cleanse us from all sins.” (1
John 1: 7,9)
When the sin is
cleansed away, condemnation leaves and faith leaps to the forefront! Then,
miracles occur as God answers prayer in response to sincere faith-filled
petitions coming from a clean heart!
Fear brings trepidation,
torment and terror! It is an enemy, but fear can be neutralized, beaten and
vanquished.The Bible states: ”God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of
love and power and a sound mind.” (2 Timothy 1:7)
Since God does not give
anyone the spirit of fear, it is evident that fear comes from Satan, Satan who
is the Enemy of God. Satan is the enemy of man.
The Holy Scriptures declare:
“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.” (1 John 4: 17-18)
Jesus said: The thief
(Satan) cometh not but for to steal, and to kill and to destroy. I am come that
ye may have life, and that ye might have it more abundantly.” (John 10: 10). Former
alcoholic and drug addict, James Payne, wrote a Gospel song titled John 3: 16.
Here are the lyrics:
"Alone one night at the end of my rope
In a hotel in Nashville praying for hope
In my hand was a Bible I had read as a child
On the table was the bottle that was driving me wild
I poured the whiskey into the glass
Praying that somehow I could forget my past
Then I remembered how Jesus had died on the tree
I poured out the whiskey and fell down on my knees
The night old Jack Daniels met John 3:16
God’s Word broke the chains that he had over me
I traded Tennessee whiskey for Calvary’s tree
The night Ol’ Jack Daniels met John 3: 16
That is the exact reaction of the spirit of fear meeting the blood
of Jesus.
When Jesus' powerful blood
sweeps over our souls, fear must leave immediately! There is no room for
Satanic bondage of any kind in the life of a Christian.
The Blessed Holy Spirit
makes us free from sin, free from guilt and free from fear. And He keeps us free
for God’s glory.
US President Roosevelt
stated: "The only thing to fear is fear itself."
In many cases that is true.
Because fear is a spirit, when it digs its deceptive tentacles into a victim,
raw fear often proves to be far worse than the object of the fear.
In Middle East folk lore
there is story of a great warrior who meets a mythical rider called Death,
carrying a gigantic scythe! Addressing him, the warrior says: “I
have just come from a battle where I left 5,000 men dead.
Where have you been and
where are going?” Replying, the mystical rider says: “I have just left the area
to which you are heading."Inquiringly, the warrior asks: “How many dead
will I find there?” Death answers: “The plague killed 5,000."
The next week, the great
warrior again meets the mythical rider on the windswept desert. He hails the
scythe - carrier with a shout: “You lied to me. The plague left 50,000 dead. You told me that you had killed only 5,000!”
Death replies: “I told you the truth. 5,000 perished from the plague. The
rest died of fear!"
An old adage says: “Cowards
die a thousand times before their death.The valiant tastes of death but once!’
Without doubt, fear is a real enemy and robber. The Bible character Job, after
having been attacked by Satan, confessed: “The thing which I greatly feared
is come upon me.” (Job 3: 25)
DO NOT BE AFRAID – CALL
UPON GOD IN TIMES OF TROUBLE
When things go wrong and it
appears that the bottom has dropped out of everything, that is not the time to
become afraid or to panic. Only believe because, “All things are possible to
him that believeth.” (Mark 9:23)
God’s Word says: “And
call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify
Me.” (Psalms 50: 15). Jesus said:
“Come unto Me all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give
you REST.” (Matt. 11: 28). Amen.
Max Solbrekken World Mission, Box 44220 RPO Garside Edmonton, AB T5V
1N6. Email: [email protected]; comehometojesus.ca; Facebook; Youtube;
Donations can be made by e-Transfer; make your donation to [email protected]; May God bless you.
