Faith Conquers Fear

There are things and there are times in life when we do face fear of when we experience fear and that I am not here to send you on a guilt trip of telling you that you must never experience fear whatsoever that would not be true. Listen carefully. Please.

I'm here to tell you that allowing your fear to become your daily companion is wrong. I am here to tell you that living in constant fear is not only as sin for those who belong to the Lord Jesus Christ. But it has such physical, psychological, spiritual, harmful consequences that you don't want to live in that way at all.

Living with fear can hold you in a mental prison literally persistent in living in fear is going to impact all of your relationships.

It's going to distort your view of reality. It's going to distort your view of God. And when your view of God is distorted, Satan will come in and he will found that this to be his opportunity to take you away into as spiritual ghetto where he can have his way with you and that is precisely why the Bible is filled with fear not, fear not, fear not.

And whenever God said fear not, he always gave you the reason why. In first John chapter 4 verses 16 and 17. Fear not, why because God loves you and Psalm 139 10.

Fear not, why because God holds you and in Psalm 121 verse five.

Fear not. Why, because God keeps you.

And when God said to Abraham, fear not, why is it because I'm with you when you said that Isaiah, fear not. Why, because already have redeemed you and delivered you. God never says to us in his word. Get rid of that fear.

You have no business being afraid or get rid of that fear out of your life.

In fact, Timothy was a very fearful young man and in his showing in his life and that is why the apostle Paul never once set them aside. How dare you voting preacher like you are you good gifted young man like you. A man of God like you have no business of feeling absolutely not. You can find that in the Scripture. In fact, he just sit there, Mr. Timothy remember that when you experience fear.

Check your spiritual temperature that when you experience fear going check the gauge the fuel tank of your faith check and see who are you listening to check and see who you been hanging out with check and see who's got your ear go and check and see your thought Patton check and see your life goals except Paul of course didn't say all of that. I'm just interpreting it for you is what he said is that he Timothy did you know that the spirit of fear is not from God. Did you know that.

What is it mean it means that when I discredit Weatherby the spirit of fear, or any other demon is not from God and must be from Satan. There is no third source anise pattern that is not the Holy Spirit is suspended from Satan, and that evil spirit from Satan can overwhelm you. Every time he can dominate your thought Patton.

He can overcome you whenever you are not walking with the Lord closely, physically, emotionally and spiritually.

The same goes with the spirit of lust in the spirit of greed that is destroying the world economy today is the same with the spirit of addiction that has many people enslaved in its grip with any spirit that is not from God and all of these spirit were not from God. Therefore, must, and have no place in the life of a child of God. But if you hang out with God, mentally, emotionally, spiritually and physically.

Even the spiritual takeoff that will not hang out with you for very long if you fill your mind on the promises of God that I found in the word of God constantly those spirits will take off.

If your life's focus is the glory of God and the serving of God and ministering to others and witnessing for him in your workplace.

Those spirits will takeoff, but if you hang out with the prophets of doom and gloom if you listen too much to the merchants of panic. If you are daily immersed in the murky water of this world. If you spend a few minutes a day in prayer and reading the Scripture then spend hours listening and reading all these bad news then that spirit, which is from Satan is going to cover you like a wet blanket element get to the bottom line and the bottom line about fear.

Is this is distrusting God because most fear and not saying all of fear on saying most fear is based on what if what if what if what if and that is why most fear. Again, not all fear most fear is irrational.

Now I want to show you from the word of God from the Scripture how the Lord Jesus's teaching his disciples not to hang out with the spirit of fear turn in your Bibles please to Matthew chapter 8 Matthew eight beginning at verse 23 very short passage five verses basically the disciples and Jesus after a long hard day of ministering got into a boat Jesus being bone tired, exhausted, he went to sleep right in the boat. Meanwhile please are dented can you say that word with Mac and pronounce it very well. Can you help me please can you say unprecedented. Thank you. Now I can draw the pronounce it better. It's very important because most of us were read the passage and run with it, but it is appreciated that storm they have never experienced anything like it. They've never seen anything like it in all the years on the Sea of Galilee and all the years of fishing in all the years of knowing the place backward and forward.

They have never seen anything like this. And so that unprecedented storm threatened to capsize the boat and that were gonna drown right in the middle of the sea of Galilee in the middle of the night. The waves were just tossing the boat like a cork on the water and saw the young Jesus went fishing master. The one thing that sticks out in my mind in this whole incident is the fact that Jesus would not still the storm first and then rebukes them. Second 11 due to I know the story is familiar to so many of us, not all of us. But please do not allow your familiarity with the incident to rob you of a new insight from the word of God first, if anyone should be afraid and terrified as the person that's about to drown in the middle of the water in the middle of the night. I mean if they had any right to be afraid, these folks should've been afraid. I want you to translate this into your life. Whatever is going on in your life and what goes on in your life and in my life. A very different sort translate that situation to your life. What is causing you to fear what is threatening the boat of your life right now. Is it your business that's going under. Is it your savings that seem to be vanishing.

Is it your job that is being eliminated.

Is it your marriage that is sinking is that your health status tumbling. Is it your stocks that has taken a nosedive. Whatever it is that seem to be threatening the boat of your life to back you take those words you translate them to your situation and you will be blessed by the end of this message. Whatever is threatening to drown you happens often in the middle of the night. Second, there can be no greater fear than the fear that come upon us suddenly no warning, no flashing lights, no one to say hey watch what's coming.

Be prepared for this nothing.

It is no greater fear than the sudden fear. There was no sign that a storm was brewing on the horizon. None. Because otherwise those veteran seamen would not have gotten the weather Channel never predicted anything but smooth sailing. The meteorologist said is going to be light breeze, beautiful sky there storm came swiftly and with tremendous force.

Now you notice one thing that is if you listen to the abundance in the talking heads and in the news people in their common thing that the talk about all the time that these so-called experts in that they keep repeating that statement in the media about the condition. This of this economic tsunami that seem to be pet the world. They keep saying we just didn't see it coming. We suggested we did not expect anything like that. These Wall Street experts been paid billions of dollars. They didn't sit they didn't sit in Warner's there were all taken by surprise so that the apostles three very not have lifejackets they did not have lifeboats they did not have a mothership to retrieve to a very had no rescue plan that they have no backup plan.

They had no plan B remember there was no sign of the storm while they make plans for anything like this but within a matter of minutes the ship was being swamped by the rolling waves question.

Where was Jesus mother was a time when there were in the middle of a strong and Jesus is up in the mountain watching but this time he's in the boat. He's right there with them, but he was sleeping through it all, God's greater purpose in mind, namely to demonstrate the power of the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ, God's only anointed over nature when he healed this diseases and healed the sick. He demonstrated his power over disease when he raised the dead. He demonstrated his power over death when he exercise the demon possessed.

He demonstrated his power over Satan and all of his minions and here he is demonstrating his power over the natural forces, but again the amazing part, he rebukes the disciples before he calms the storm. Now I'm going to stay here just for a bit. In fact the rest of the message and you'll understand why at the end because I think all of us, and including yours truly. In fact, may be ahead of the pack out of love that the other way around. I can tell you from personal experience from many are storms of my life.

I wish God had just stopped that storm in my life first and then gave me the rebuke by them anytime I hear his sweet voice, his gracious voice. This kind voice is merciful voice of a word of rebuke before I could see the storm abated all want Jesus to take away that which frightens us before he started giving us a sermon, we would rather he stops the storm first before he teaches us the lesson we wanted to answer our prayers first and then teach us that whatever he wants to teach us later but you know he's the creator.

He made us, he knows us too well far better than we know ourselves and he knows that once he gets us out of your fear out of my fear once he stills the storm in your life and in my life once he delivers from fear we not as willing to listen when I was willing to learn when others willing to grow, try using imagination here. Imagine these guys never seen anything like it absolutely terrified is something they've never seen or experienced before and hit the first thing Jesus said when they will come up. Why are you afraid I'll give me a break from afraid elementary psychology tells us that fear is the appropriate response to danger affect somebody will think you lost your sanity. If you're not fearful in a time like this is not how Jesus sought to visit over little faith. Faith about the numbers anything like this. What faith are you talking about this and I know you know when you go through a storm in life.

The last thing you want. The last thing you need the last thing you cherish somebody rebuking you right Jesus saying to them when you are fearful you have so little faith.

When you afraid of things you not fearing God when you are fearful you will have lost confidence in the God who loves you why, because fear is to Satan is what faith is to God. Fear is to Satan is what faith is to God. Young people with me say something to you only speak to the young people today you have not been walking with God for too long. Your faith in him is young, and one thing the Lord Jesus wants you to do is to strengthen your faith in him.

You might be an adult but a baby Christian. You just began to walk with the Lord in your faith in him is weak.

He understands that he wants to strengthen that faith.

But if you been walking with the Lord for decades and you're still going to the same fears and you go back to the well of fear again and again and again the something wrong with your faith. I believe with all my heart that there is a very important lesson that the Lord Jesus wanted teach every one of us today and it is this that faith conquers fear. Every time that faith defeats fear every time. But the question is what does Jesus. What did Jesus mean by faith.

Faith according to Jesus is not some sort of a vague notion of positive thinking stiff upper lip is not some vague notion of possibility thinking it's not some vague notion of a blind hope is not sheer willpower. I'm going to get through this. I'm going to fight this battle went over this. And, no, no, no, none. This is not something you generate from inside of you, by faith. He's talking about an absolute total unqualified trust in him. Did you get that faith in the God who cares for you. Trust absolute trust in the God who redeemed you and delivered you from eternal death trust in the God who is trustworthy. Trust in the God who keeps his word even if the world turns upside down. Trust in the God who has your best interest at heart when Mark records this incident in Mark chapter 4 verse 35 when he records this incident is what he said. He said Jesus said to the disciples. Let's go to the other side. As I said let's go to the other side.

He did not say let's go in the middle of the sea of Galilee and drown on the inside he's there in the boat asleep not to be sure he never promised an easy right but he promised a safe arrival. Listen, you have to understand that fear is the mother of all negative emotions don't care what it is that you you dig deep this fearing of and right there looking in the middle fear is the center of all negative emotions. Fear is the root of all negative emotions and that is why the Scripture gives it such a wide press coverage is why the Scripture gives it such big airtime because only faith can defeat fear every time and you go to see it every time you read the Scripture wears an element of fear. This faith Psalm 34 four I sought the Lord and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears. Isaiah 712 to hire will trust and not be afraid, always one on one side and one on the other.

When one is up. The other was down Hebrews chapter 2 verse 15 the Lord liberated us from the captivity to fear what Jesus is saying to his disciples where is you will trust in me. Where is it what wasn't there that night because faith defeats fear every time he saying to them, had you exercised trust in me you would have conquered your deepest of negative emotions.

I was thinking about this and I was thinking about a very prominent man for significant man high up in society will known man by the name of Jarvis and he came to Jesus and he said to him, Jesus Bible citizens begging Jesus is it please come my 12-year-old daughter is sick to the point of death, and she's dying when you come in here please. And Jesus of fine and he went in the direction of goddesses home. He was heading home with majority responded to his prayer, but is a problem. Jesus was taking his sweet time getting there. Your experience that Jesus always takes his three thoughtless roles in a hurry, but is not so Jesus gets whaler not just put yourself in Genesis place on the you are on tenterhooks and in literally, you know, Jesus, she's very sick.

This is serious more.

This is this is Jesus gets in heal somebody here talk to somebody there prays over someone here and he constantly getting waylaid in this poor man heart is broken into question why because he thought Jesus can heal his daughter but not raised from the dead and so sure enough, as he was begging the Lord come Lord come of it, a messenger comes in like Job said all that I have feared has come upon me, a messenger comes in. Don't trouble the Lord just don't trouble him and him alone your daughter is dead.

You can only imagine what washed over him of the time and at that moment.

Still, it still is a prime how many times have you thoughts too late still like me tell you something.

It's never too late unless the Lord says it's too late.

Did you get that all over. She's there. Jesus responds to this brokenhearted cold sweat gyrus standing there thinking it's too late, it's over. Luke chapter 8 verse 49 Jesus at the gyrus don't be afraid of the Lord, don't be afraid to die. I got the message. This inches that the girl is bad what you mean.

Don't be afraid only believe and she will be healed. Don't be afraid only trust me and she will be here and sure enough she was healed. What is Jesus doing mistaken opportunity yet another one in order that he may teach his disciples were all with him and walking with him at the time and teach gyrus and gyrus's messengers and some everybody around us trying to teach them the same lesson over and over again.

After all, he said he never promised an easy right but he promised a safe arrival. Thanks for listening to this message from Dr. Michael. You sat recently featured on leading the way. If you'd like to know more about us, please visit LTW.org that LTW.Ward