Locating Fear - Part 3
I.
Defining fear
A. Fear’s purpose is not to
just frighten you; it’s purpose is to deactivate the anointing opening the door
for failure and oppression
B. Fear is not an emotion,
it’s a spiritual force
1.
The
world defines fear as the feelings of fright
2.
That
definition develops thinking that says fear is only there if I feel afraid
C. Defining Fear
1.
PRACTICAL
DEFINTION-Fear is faith in the enemy to harm you; It’s confidence in the enemy
to bring misfortune in your life (Mark 4:35)
a.
If
you have confidence in him to bring misfortune in your life, there could be and
usually are unpleasant feelings that accompany that confidence
1)
The
emotion fear brings could be fright, but it could be many others
a) EX: The guy afraid of
flying has fright
b) EX: The guy that didn’t
get his promised bonus has anger
c) EX: The woman who’s
husband is not changing has discouragement
2)
The
emotions aren’t the fear, they are the result of the fear; the confidence in
him that’s the fear
a) The feeling of fright is
not the fear, it is the result of fear
3)
If
you replace your confidence in God, the feelings will change
a) If you get rid of the
confidence in Satan, the feelings will go with it
b) You might have the
opportunity to feel a certain way, but it’s just like an opportunity to take a
thought that crosses your mind
b.
Fear-An unpleasant emotion caused
by the belief that something is dangerous
1)
The
world defines fear as the emotions; the word defines as the belief
2)
Anytime
somebody is in fear, they’re in fear because of what they believe not because
of a feeling they have
3)
Fear
is not a feeling it’s a belief; it’s twisted faith
c.
What
afraid of? Where’s your faith? Where’s your confidence?
2.
BIBLICAL
DEFINITION-Fear is present when love stops being perfected whether you feel
afraid or not; If you’re outside of love the Bible said you’re in fear
a.
Fear
is faith in the enemy that results in you moving out of the love of God
II.
Recognizing Fear-What
does fear look like? We’ve thought fear looked like guy biting is nails with
his knees shaking
A. Whatever love is fear
isn’t (1 John 4:18, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8)
1.
Fear
disobeys God (1 Jn 5:3)
2.
Fear
gets in strife (Genesis 26:20)
3.
Fear
doesn’t forgive
B. All laziness is fear of
discomfort (Matthew 25:26)
C. All discouragement is
fear that the way it is now it’s always going to be like this
D. All unbelief is a fear
that what God said won’t come to pass
E. The spirit of fear will
manifest in many different forms, but underneath those forms/costumes it will
always be the spirit of fear
1.
Satan
is Fear-The Spirit of fear is the spirit of anti-Christ (1 Jn
4:3, 2 Tim 1:7)
2.
Fear
is impatient, unkind, envious, vaunts itself, is puffed up, rude, selfish,
easily offended, rejoices when others fall, fear thinks evil, fear is
disobedient, fear has strife, fear has unforgiveness, fear is lazy, fear is
discouraged and depressed, fear believes the word won’t come to pass, fear is
frustrated, fear always fails
F. Satan would like you to
think something else is the problem when in reality it’s fear
1.
He
wants you working on the plumbing when it’s an electrical problem
2.
He
wants you dealing with the fruit and not the root
III.
Locating Fear
A. Adam and Eve (Genesis
3:1)-Disobedience rooted in fear
1.
They
were afraid if they did obeyed God they would miss out on something
B. Children Of Israel
1.
Murmuring-The
enemy spoke and got them to believe God didn’t care about them and they were
afraid they were going to die of thirst, of hunger, and of the sword.
a.
Exodus
16:1-3-And
the whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and
Aaron in the wilderness: 3 And the children of Israel said unto them,
Would to God we had died by the hand of the LORD in the land of Egypt, when we
sat by the flesh pots, and when we
did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into this wilderness,
to kill this whole assembly with hunger
b.
Exodus
17:3-And the
people thirsted there for water; and the people murmured against Moses, and
said, Wherefore is this that thou hast brought us up out of
Egypt, to kill us and our children and our cattle with thirst?
c.
Num 14:2-And all the children of Israel murmured
against Moses and against Aaron: and the whole congregation said unto them,
Would God that we had died in the land of Egypt! or would God we had died in
this wilderness!
2.
Deuteronomy
1:21
a.
26-Disobedience-What
were they afraid of? --- Dying
b.
27-Murmurring-What
were they afraid of? --- Dying
c.
28-Discouraged-What
were they afraid of? ---- Not being able to overcome
d.
32-Unbelief-What
were they afraid of?-That what God said wouldn’t happen
1)
They
didn’t believe b/c they were afraid that what God said wouldn’t come to pass
2)
Faith
in the enemy to keep God’s word from manifesting
C. Saul (1 Samuel 15:13-24)
1.
13-22-He’s
lying b/c he’s afraid of the judgment that will come as result of the truth
2.
15-He
blames others because he fears responsibility
3.
22-He
lies and says the spoil is for the Lord
4.
24-He
was afraid that if he did what God said, the people wouldn’t like him
a.
He
feared if he did what God said he’d miss out on something
D. Eliab (1 Samuel 17:28)
1.
Angry,
Critical, Judgmental-What’s he afraid of?
2.
Maybe
he’s afraid of David getting hurt
3.
Maybe
he’s afraid of David succeeding at something that he knows he should do
E. The sluggard
1.
Matthew
25:25-He dreaded going out there and doing business with that money because he
feared the discomfort of putting his master’s money on the line
2.
Proverbs
20:4-Lazy-He dreads the lack of comfort that will come from being cold
F. John was offended because
he was afraid he’s going to be stuck in that prison (Lk
7:18)
G. Martha was afraid she
wouldn’t be able to get all this food prepared Luke 10:38-42)
H. Peter denied Jesus and
cursed b/c he was afraid they were going to kill him (Mt 26:69)
I. Judas feared lack in his
life and in that bag (John 12:1-6)