Based on a sermon by Mark Rogers, Evangelist,
Bible Baptist Church, Fairbanks, Alaska
1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, according to the promise of life which is in Christ Jesus, 2 To Timothy, my dearly beloved son: Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. 3 I thank God, whom I serve from my forefathers with pure conscience, that without ceasing I have remembrance of thee in my prayers night and day; 4 Greatly desiring to see thee, being mindful of thy tears, that I may be filled with joy; 5 When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also. 6 Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands. 7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. 8 Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God. — 2 Timothy 1:1-8
God tells us over and over in the Bible not to be afraid. In Isaiah 41:10, the prophet 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."
"So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me." — Heb. 13:6
"And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell." — Matt.10:28
In Matthew 14 and Mark 6 the disciples are in a boat when a storm comes up and they think they are going to die. Jesus comes out walking on the water, and He says to them , "... Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid" (Matt. 14:27). He didn't say to them, be of good cheer; you are all going to survive; be not afraid. That wasn't the promise. He didn't say, be of good cheer, I am going to stop the storm; be not afraid. He didn't say that.
As a matter of fact, He didn't stop the storm right away when He said that. A lot of stuff happened after He said that. The storm kept raging and Peter got out of the boat. The storm kept raging and Peter got out of he boat and walked on the water and sank. Jesus pulled him back up and they got in the boat. After a while the storm stopped. When Jesus said, "... Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid..." the only promise they had was that Jesus was there, so they didn't have to be afraid.
That's the same promise we have; not that we'll always have an easy time of it, not that everything will always go the way we want it to go, but His promise is that no matter where we go and what we do, if we are saved, the Lord Jesus Christ is with us every moment of every day. Therefore, we don't have to be afraid.
But if you, or anyone you know who hasn't trusted in Jesus to be saved, you do need to be afraid. Because you have good reason to be afraid. It's because if you take your last breathe in this life without the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, you will die lost. The next thing you will see are the flames of Hell - according to His Word. You'll spend all eternity there - and you definitely ought to be afraid of that.
If you are saved and living in rebellion against God, you ought to be afraid. Afraid that God doesn't love you? No, not al all, as a matter of fact, God loves you so much if you live in rebellion against Him, He's promised in the book of Hebrews that He will chasten you. He'll bring chastisement into your life. Hebrews 12:11 says, Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous:..." In other words, it's going to hurt. So if you are living in rebellion against God, you ought to be afraid, because there is trouble around the corner.
If you are saved and living for God, there is no single reason why you ought to be afraid. The child of God who is living for God has no reason for fear, and every day spent in fear is a wasted day. Every day you spend in fear is a day that the devil has victory in you life. We ought not to give him any victory whatsoever in our lives.
THE THREE MAIN AREAS OF FEAR WHERE THE DEVIL LIES AND TRIES TO BRING FEAR INTO OUR LIVES.
1. There is fear of self, fear about our own inadequacy and failure ....
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2. There is fear is fear of others, their opinions and actions ....
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3. There is the fear that God will fail, that God is either unconcerned or unable to deal with my problem. My need is just too big for God to handle ....
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Questions for Discussion:
1. Fear of Self. Why did Abraham and Sarah have to wait until they were 100 and 90 years old to have Isaac?
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2. Why does the fear of others prevent us form visitation of any kind, mainly, knocking on somebody's door and hand them a track, or invite them to church, or tell them about Jesus?
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3. Fear That God Will Fail. What does "...and of a sound mind" have to do with faulty thinking in the Bible, and how does it cause us to believe God will fail?
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