The Consequences Of Fear-Part 1
I. You can’t trust God & be
afraid at the same time; you can feel afraid & trust God, but if you’re
being afraid, then you’re not trusting Him
A.
Trust is not faith, but it is an act of faith
1. Trust-To place confidence in, to rely on; to commit to the care of
a.
I believe God, I believe in Him, I believe
His word and in response to what I believe about Him, I’m trusting him with
that which is valuable to me
b.
Trust is revealed when I take something that
I value greatly and place the care of that thing into the hands of another b/c
of my belief in them
c.
I can believe you to be a person of
character, but until I place something that I greatly value into your care, I
haven’t shown trust (ex: a persons kids)
1) If I get into fear or concerning that thing it shows I don’t trust
2. You can’t be afraid (acting fear) & be trusting (acting faith) at
the same time
a.
EX: You can’t be acting based on your
confidence in Satan to harm you & acting based on your confidence in God to
keep you at the same time
B.
Isaiah 12:2-To trust God is to not be afraid;
you can’t do both at the same time
1. Psalm 112:7-8-7 He shall not be afraid of evil tidings: his
heart is fixed, trusting in the LORD. 8 His heart is established (leaning on), he shall not be afraid, until he see his desire upon his enemies.
2. John 14:1-Let not your heart be troubled: ye
believe in God, believe also in me.
3. Psalm 56:3-4,10-11-With the opportunity to fear he’s going to trust God
instead
C.
Anything you do afraid you do not trusting
Him and therefore God never wants you to do anything afraid b/c that’s not
trusting him (Judges 7:3,10, Deut 20:8)
1. God’s doing everything to get Gideon out of fear; The battlefield is no place for fear
2. In both instances they are outnumbered and sending the fearful home
II. Fear makes you vulnerable to
the onslaught of the enemy
A.
Psalm 18:30-God is a shield to all those that
trust Him
1. Buckler-A
kind of shield, or piece of defensive armor, anciently used in war. It was
composed of wood, or wickers woven together, covered with skin or leather,
fortified with plates of brass or other metal, and worn on the left arm. The
middle was very useful in causing stones and darts to glance off. The buckler
often was four feet long, and covered the whole body.
2. Shield-To cover, as with a shield; to cover from danger; to defend; to
protect; to secure from assault or injury; To ward off; to defend against; as
clothes to shield one from cold.
a.
Psalm 5:12-With
favor your will surround him as with a shield-Shields surround every side
3. Who gets to determine whether or not God is their shield?
a.
For those who don’t trust him He can’t be their
shield
4. Scriptures
a.
Psalm 115:9-11-O Israel, trust thou in the LORD: he is their help and their shield. 10 O
house of Aaron, trust in the LORD: he is
their help and their shield.11 Ye that fear the LORD,
trust in the LORD: he is their help
and their shield.
b.
Proverbs 30:5-Every word of God is pure: he is a shield
unto them that put their trust in him.
c.
Psalm 144:2-My goodness, and my fortress; my high tower,
and my deliverer; my shield, and he
in whom I trust; who subdues my people under me.
d.
2 Samuel 22:3-The God of my rock; in him will I trust: he is my shield, and the horn of my
salvation, my high tower, and my refuge, my savior; thou save me from violence.
e.
Psalm 28:7-The LORD is
my strength and my shield; my heart trusted in him, and I am helped: therefore
my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I
praise him.
f.
Ephesians 6:13-Above all, taking the shield of faith,
wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.
B.
If God is your shield, then this shield is
impenetrable
1. Psalm 91:1-16-He’s shielded because he’s trusting and not operating in
fear
a.
3-The snare of the fowler and noisome
pestilence-5-Terror, arrows-6-Pestilence that walks in darkness, destructions
that wastes at noonday-10-No evil and no plague-These things couldn’t penetrate
the shield
2. Daniel 3:28-Satan wanted to kill them, but he couldn’t penetrate the
shield
3. 1 Samuel 17-Satan wanted to kill David, but he couldn’t penetrate the
shield
4. John 8:59-Satan wanted to kill Jesus, but he couldn’t penetrate the
shield
C.
Fear brings the shield down
1. Job 1:10-He had a fence around him & it had to be in response to his
trust
a.
Job is being shielded and Satan couldn’t
penetrate it
2. Job 3:25-26-When he got into fear and stopped trusting the shield went
down & he was vulnerable to enemy that he once was shielded & safe from
D.
It’s God’s will that you be kept/guarded from
evil (John 17:15)
1. 1 John 5:18-He that’s born of God keeps/guards himself by staying out of
fear
2. Proverbs 29:25-Even though it’s God’s will, this is the reality
3. Proverbs 1:26-27,33-There’s a connection between being safe &
fearing no evil
III. Fear will connect you to the
thing you fear and bring it to pass
A.
Fear is a twisted form of faith
1. God put faith in Adam and when Adam sinned Satan twisted/perverted faith
a.
What was faith in God to bless, provide,
& protect became faith in Satan to steal, kill, & destroy
b.
Fear is confidence/belief in Satan to bring
misfortune in your life; particularly more confidence in Satan to harm you than
God keep you
2. Mark 4:40-Fear was their problem and yet he didn’t address their
feeling, he addressed their believing
B.
Belief is a connector; Belief connects you to
the unseen realm
1. Faith is a belief that will connect u to what u desire and bring it to
pass-Mark 11:24-Through believing u can get what u desire from the unseen to
the seen
a.
Matthew 8:13, 9:18,23-25 9:22-Healing was in
the unseen, but faith connected them to it and brought into the seen
b.
Matthew 14-Provision couldn’t be seen, but
faith connected them to it and brought it into the seen
2. Fear is a belief that will connect you to the thing you dread &
bring it to pass
a.
Your fear will connect you to the thing you
fear and bring to pass the way your faith will connect to the thing you believe
and bring it to pass
3. Proverbs 23:7, 4:23-Good or bad your life is a sum-total of what you
believe
a.
Hebrews 11:1-Faith is the confidence that
what you desire will come to pass; fear is confidence that what you dread will
come to pass
C.
What you fear will come on you; fear is
believing that bad is going to happen
1. Job 3:25-26-The thing Job feared was losing everything & it came
upon him
a.
Job’s fear connected him to the thing he
feared and brought it to pass
2. Proverbs 10:24-Operating in fear is wicked & your fear will come on
you
a.
Fear is wicked/twisted faith; when u operate
in fear u operate in wickedly
b.
Job was not wicked, he was righteous, but
when he operated in fear he operated wickedly and his fears came on him
3. Gen 31:26-32, 35:16-19, 49:3-Jacob feared losing his wives and it came on
him
4. Exodus 14:10-14, Numbers 26:65-This generation of the COI feared dying
in the wilderness the moment they left Egypt and what they feared came upon
them
5. 1 Sam 28:5,31:3-Saul feared dying at the hands of the Philistines & it
happened
6. Jeremiah 26:20-23-Urijah feared and acted on the fear by fleeing to
Egypt and the thing that he feared came upon him and he was murdered
7. Jeremiah 41-43-This wicked man Ishmael was a murdered and was holding
people captive. When Johanan heard
that he got people together and fought Ishmael and his men and won, but Ishmael
escaped.
a.
41:17-18-Johanan feared the Chaldeans
b.
42:5-6-They told Jeremiah to pray & tell
them what to do and they’d do it
c.
42:11-They were afraid of the King of Babylon
(Nebuchadnezzar)
1) Being afraid of him will
connect them to what they fear
d.
42:9-16-They feared the sword and they feared
famine
1) To go down to Egypt would be for them to go down b/c they feared war and
famine & they thought going to Egypt would keep them fed & safe, but to
go down there was to go down in fear not trusting God
e.
43:2-7-They went down to Egypt b/c they
feared famine and the sword
f.
44:12,26-28-The famine they feared, the sword
they feared came on them
D.
If the thing you fear will come on you, then
the thing you faith will come on you
1. Instead of connecting yourself to bad things by dreading them, be free
from fear and connect yourself to good things by believing you have them
2. If fearing something could bring that thing to pass; then faithing something could bring that thing to pass
IV. Fear deactivates the power
of God and keep God power from working in your behalf
A.
Matt 14:24-31-Peter is a man doing something supernatural
by the power of God
1. Peter stepped out on the water by faith and accessed God’s power
2. Fear deactivated that power & w/ that power off Satan could oppress &
win
a.
With that power working Satan can’t win (Acts
10:38)
B.
If operating in fear deactivates God’s power,
then operating faith must activate it
1. Could you stay in faith and love, activate God’s power and never be
oppressed by Satan again?
V. Fear grants Satan access
into your life
A.
1 Peter 5:8-Fear is grants him access
1. 6-Pride would be taking the care and operating in fear, when God has
designated himself the caretaker; you’re not better at His job than He his
2. 7-Cast all of your care; that means you have none
3. 8-Be sober (calm & collected) & be vigilant (watch, give attention,
be active)
4. 8-He’s seeking who will give him access by getting over into fear
5. 9-If you’ll resist him in faith he’ll flee because he has no access
(James 4:7)
B.
If fear grants Satan access, then a person
who doesn’t operate in fear gives him no access into their lives
1. Satan can want to do something to you, but without fear his access is
denied
2. Satan wanted to kill David, but couldn’t; wanted to kill the three Hebrews,
but couldn’t; wanted to kill Daniel, but couldn’t; wanted to kill Jesus, but
couldn’t because access was denied
VI. When Satan sees you
fearless, it’s a clear sign/message to him that he loses and you win
(Philippians 1:28)
A.
If the consequences of fear are it makes you
vulnerable, connects you to what you dread, deactivates God’s power, and grants
Satan access, then the results of not walking in fear must be it keeps you
safe, connects you to good things you desire, activates God’s power, and denies
Satan access