As we continue asking questions in this series, the next question we are going to cover is: “Why am I afraid? That may seem like a strange leap going from how important Love is in the Kingdom of God, into being afraid...But they are tied together in scripture.
1 John 4:18 “18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear,” So let me ask you, what are you afraid of? For me, the two things I struggle with are heights and snakes. And these things cross my mind way more often than they should. Now the fact is that I’ve never fallen from a building or bridge or any other high structure and the odds that one of those things will collapse under me is laughable. But I still hesitate when I approach the edge. It will also bother me if you get too close to the edge. A several years ago, Laura and I had just gotten home and as I was walking from the kitchen towards the front door I noticed something on the floor. I stopped and looked at it as I thought to myself, “That can’t possibly be what I think it is”. I turned the light on to get a better look and sure enough there it was, my worst nightmare...in my house. Yep, a huge snake was laying just inside the front door. And by huge I mean it was about eight inches long. The only thing to do at that point was get Laura and our two dogs out...then burn the house down. I didn’t follow through with that plan, but I did sleep with a shovel in the bedroom for a couple of nights. Now, are those rational fears? No, certainly not, they are irrational fears. Did you realize that for a Christian, all fear is irrational, except one. The fear of the Lord. Proverbs 1:7 “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge; Fools despise wisdom and instruction.” The Bible has many verses that tell us how wisdom is found in the fear of the Lord. But the idea behind this kind of fear is not about being afraid of God, but about understanding how awesome and powerful God is and having a respect and reverence for who He is.
When I was growing up, I didn’t fear my dad. But you better believe that I had a healthy respect for him. So we have to understand that getting God’s wisdom begins by understanding who He is and having a healthy respect for Him. And that comes by revelation through the Holy Spirit. Are you starting to see how our relationship to the kingdom of God is always tied to our relationship to the Holy Spirit? He is our connection to the kingdom while we are here on earth. The Holy Spirit in the Old Testament came upon people and they did miracles and prophesied. The Holy Spirit didn’t dwell in people, He came upon them. The temple in the Old Testament was the elaborate holy house where the presence of God dwelt on the earth. When Jesus left the earth, God sent the Holy Spirit to the earth but He wasn’t looking for an elaborate building to dwell in. He was looking for men. A person that has been cleansed by the blood of Jesus is now a holy elaborate house for the Holy Spirit to dwell on the earth. You are the masterpiece, designed and created by God, that He desires to dwell in, not an elaborate building made by man. Psalm 8:3-8 “3 When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers,The moon and the stars, which You have ordained; 4 What is man that You take thought of him, And the son of man that You care for him? 5 Yet You have made him a little lower than God, And You crown him with glory and majesty! 6 You make him to rule over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, 7 All sheep and oxen, And also the beasts of the field, 8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.”
You are His child, crowned with glory and majesty...does that sound royal to you? God’s will as the Owner is done on the earth through His glorious majestic children. We have His Spirit in us guiding and empowering us to accomplish our rulership assignment. The abundant Christian life, is a life of power through the Holy Spirit. 2 Timothy 1:7 “7 For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” I learned that verse in the King James version and it says it this way: “God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power, and of love and of a sound mind. The Holy Spirit that lives in us as believers is not fearful or timid. The Holy Spirit is the exact opposite of timid. Through Him we have power, we have the kingdom currency of love and the ability to make disciplined, sound decisions. On the day of Pentecost, the disciples were filled with the Holy Spirit and then they proclaimed the wonderful works of God boldly. And from that day forward, they showed the power of God through signs and wonders. Healing was normal and expected because it brought glory to God through the name of Jesus. The disciples started acting like Jesus when they received the same Spirit that He had, the One that raised Him from the dead. Do you think Jesus was afraid of anything here on earth? Jesus was the express will of God in the earth, so He was showing us what the Father wanted done and how He wanted us to do it. And now that same Holy Spirit is alive in you...and you have the full authority and responsibility as a son or daughter of God to do
His will and show His love in the earth. We are not called to be timid or afraid. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we are to live bold and courageous. Not only do we not have a spirit of fear, we’ve been given a spirit of love...And what does perfect love do? According to 1 John 4:18, it casts out fear! Fear can’t stay where love is present. Fear is flesh based, but love is Holy Spirit based. Remember last week when we talked about how the flesh and the Holy Spirit are always at odds and battling over our decisions? Has the flesh won this battle in your mind? Fear can come in many forms. What are you afraid of? Is it the opinion of people? Are you worried about what they might think if they find out you believe in all that Jesus stuff? What about this one? It always blows my mind, but I know it’s true because I used to be there myself. If there is anywhere in the world that we should be free to praise God the way His word describes, with “a shout of praise”...it should be in here, while we are gathered with our Christian family. But even in here we can let the fear of what someone else might think of us keep us quiet with our hands in our pockets. If you do not feel free to praise God in here, the safest possible place, then I would suggest that there is a spirit of fear that you have come into agreement with. Are you afraid you might get sick? What if you do? What’s the absolute worst that could happen? You die? Is there supposed to be fear when it comes to death for a Christian? Paul said, “for me to live is Christ, but to die is gain.” How about this...Are we afraid to pray for the sick? I don’t mean just a passing, “Lord please help my friend to feel better”.
Because that is a weak request that could be considered to be answered if even the slightest uptick in their symptoms happens anytime soon. What I’m talking about is approaching the throne of grace boldly and doing what Jesus and His disciples did. They didn’t pray long prayers with five dollar words, they simply told the sickness to leave...and it left. It had to leave, it had no choice. We don’t do that because we are afraid that if we do that, nothing will happen. And the problem is that if we never put ourselves in that position, we will always have what we fear. Here’s a big one for some christians. Are you afraid of the devil? As we are headed toward Halloween at the end of this month, do you fear evil spirits? Let me just take a minute now and let’s talk about Halloween. Halloween was originally a pagan event to celebrate a changing of the seasons to winter or a dark time of year when death was more likely. Costumes: On Halloween, when it was believed that ghosts came back to the earthly world, people thought that they would encounter ghosts if they left their homes. To avoid being recognized by these ghosts, people would wear masks when they left their homes after dark so that the ghosts would mistake them for fellow spirits. Candy at the front door: On Halloween, to keep ghosts away from their houses, people would place bowls of food outside their homes to appease the ghosts and prevent them from attempting to enter. Because they believed the spirits could take them back to the under world.
I believe this is important for Christians to fully understand. We may view our involvement in halloween as an innocent night of fun for kids, but we need to know the reality of what is happening behind the scenes. It is about spiritual wickedness in high places. But you don’t have to just take my word for it. I’m not an expert on the subject of how demons work in the earth, but I want to play a video for you of someone who is. This is an interview of John Ramirez who is now an evangelist spreading the message of Jesus. But his beginning was very different. He was a satanist. A self-described general in the satanic army. Take 5 minutes to watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q369iQJ49cY It is sobering to think that we would celebrate a holiday dedicated to our enemy. I didn’t say all that or show you that video to scare you. It’s just the opposite. You need to realize that you have all the authority over the power of the enemy and so you shouldn’t give him back your authority by celebrating a night that glorifies him. Scripture is so clear about our authority over evil that “Fear not” is an often repeated command in the Bible. It occurs a couple hundred times in various forms. For instance, almost every time an angel shows up to speak to a human, the first thing the angel says is “fear not.” I can only imagine what that would be like. Psalm 27:1-3 “3The Lord is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the defense of my life; Whom shall I dread? 2 When evildoers came upon me to devour my flesh, My adversaries and my enemies, they stumbled and fell. 3 Though a host encamp against me, My heart will not fear;
Though war arise against me, In spite of this I shall be confident. Psalm 23:4 “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.” Jesus Himself addressed this issue also. John 14:27 “27 Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.” Fear is nothing more than a tool of the enemy. Your job is to recognize when it is being used against you and make a sound decision to use the power of the Holy Spirit, and allow the kingdom love that is flowing through you to overcome and cast that fear out. Are you willing to do that? It’s not easy. Actually, it is much easier to give into your flesh and just be afraid. But God has not given us fear, He has given us His peace and He wants us to walk in it daily.
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