Sermon: Fear

9/27/09
Destructive Attitudes Most Difficult to Change: Fear II Timothy 1:1-7

II Timothy 1:1-7 – Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, To Timothy, my dear son: Grace, mercy and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. I thank God, whom I serve, as my forefathers did, with a clear conscience, as night and day I constantly remember you in my prayers. Recalling your tears, I long to see you, so that I may be filled with joy. I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also. For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (fear), but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.

God did not give us a spirit of fear.
So where did that fear come from?

Basil King, author of THE CONQUEST OF FEAR, points out that fear causes more misery than all the sin and sickness of our lives combined. We are not sick all the time. We are not sinning all the time. But most people are afraid of something or somebody all the time.

Sometimes we feel like we are afraid of everything, we are afraid of ourselves. We are afraid of people, we are afraid of the future. We are afraid of the past, we are afraid of life, we are afraid of death.

Over and over again the message of the Bible is clear: FEAR NOT, FEAR NOT! Over seventy times this emotion, fear, is mentioned in the bible – more than any other human emotion. Paul, writing to his young disciple Timothy reminded him, “God has not given us a spirit of timidity (fear), but to love, power and a sound mind.”

If you’re afraid, it didn’t come from God.
How do we change the destructive attitude of habitual fear?
I. Fear is a normal emotion
• Fear can be destructive
• Psychologist identified the fight or flight syndrome
• When we are afraid, our body releases adrenaline, our heart beats faster, because we have to make a decision
• That’s a normal reaction
• God has created us with these abilities
• Fear is a real, common/human emotion
• The first real deep emotion felt was felt in the Garden of Eden by Adam and Eve
• Adam and Eve hid
• Genesis 3:10 – He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid."
o I was afraid, a common human emotion
• Mark 4:35-41 – That day when evening came, he said to his disciples, "Let us go over to the other side." Leaving the crowd behind, they took him along, just as he was, in the boat. There were also other boats with him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke him and said to him, "Teacher, don't you care if we drown?" He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, "Quiet! Be still!" Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to his disciples, "Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?" They were terrified and asked each other, "Who is this? Even the wind and the waves obey him!"
• 2 Corinthians 7:5 – For when we came into Macedonia, this body of ours had no rest, but we were harassed at every turn—conflicts on the outside, fears within.
o Conflicts on outside, fear within
• Fear is a normal reaction
• Don’t have to be afraid of yourself if you fear certain things
• Fear has been with us since the beginning of creation
• We’re not abnormal, God created us in this way

II. Fear has its reasons
• Psalms:
• It could be an employer, spouse, child, teacher
• There are things that cause us to be afraid
• One: we overestimate the problems and underestimate our resources
• Numbers 13:31-33 – But the men who had gone up with him said, "We can't attack those people; they are stronger than we are." And they spread among the Israelites a bad report about the land they had explored. They said, "The land we explored devours those living in it. All the people we saw there are of great size. We saw the Nephilim there (the descendants of Anak come from the Nephilim). We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them."
o God told the Israelites to live in a home He got for them
o The spies saw the land, and knew God had the strength to get them there, but saw the people and were afraid
o We have the grasshopper mentality
o The job is bigger, challenges are bigger than we are
• We’re afraid because we think everything is bigger than us
• Two: We fear because we feel we face problems no one else has or feels
• Young adults think they discovered everything
• We think we face problems no one else has ever faced
o Marital/careers/health problems never faced in all of history
• Romans 8:28-39 – And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those he predestined, he also called; those he called, he also justified; those he justified, he also glorified. What, then, shall we say in response to this? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. Who is he that condemns? Christ Jesus, who died—more than that, who was raised to life—is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: "For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered. "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
o Who are these people that scare you?
o Jesus is interceding for you?
o Will God love you to the very end? Will God love you?
o Nothing you face is new to God
o You do not have a unique problem
• A psychologist uses the term “neurosis” – you are unique with your problem
• You are the only one who is stressed/but you are not
• Sometimes we give people more power over us than we really should
• Proverbs 29:25 – Fear of man will prove to be a snare, but whoever trusts in the LORD is kept safe.
o Keeps us from being whom God wants us to be
o Nobody is that important
• Jesus had little child sit on His lap
o Jesus said you should listen to the kid
o you get into the Kingdom of God by being like a little kid

III. Fear can be transformed
• fear can hold you prison or faith can set you free
• John 14:27 – Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.
o Jesus left us His peace
• Faith in God transforms fear
• Loving God with all our hearts, and doubting with all our minds
• Genesis 26:24 – That night the LORD appeared to him and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham. Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bless you and will increase the number of your descendants for the sake of my servant Abraham."
o The immense presence of God
• God became man, flesh and blood
• Unique to all religions of the world, dwelled with us
• Psalm 56:3 – When I am afraid, I will trust in you.
o Says when Im afraid
• Isaiah 41:10 – So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
• Fear can be transformed as we place our trust in God
• Deuteronomy 1:21 – See, the LORD your God has given you the land. Go up and take possession of it as the LORD, the God of your fathers, told you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged."
• Deuteronomy 20:3-4 – He shall say: "Hear, O Israel, today you are going into battle against your enemies. Do not be fainthearted or afraid; do not be terrified or give way to panic before them. For the LORD your God is the one who goes with you to fight for you against your enemies to give you victory."
• There is never a time that you go anywhere without God
• You take God everywhere
• Hebrews 13:6 – So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?"
o What can man do
o Being strengthened, encouraged
• Matthew 8:26 – He replied, "You of little faith, why are you so afraid?" Then he got up and rebuked the winds and the waves, and it was completely calm.
• Faith has a way of transforming our fears
• Faith in God, faith in God’s power
• Our Father owns the land on both sides of the river (death)
• 1 John 4:18 – There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.
• John 10:27-30 – My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. I and the Father are one."
• God has given us a wonderful gift to transform our fears
• Its not that we wont have fears, we’re just human
• Faith in Him, in His power, in His love
• “therein lies freedom” – allow faith to transform you
• Isaiah 12:2 – Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid. The LORD, the LORD, is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation."


• What can I do to transform my fear?
• Do I believe in a personal God?
o Ask yourself.
o One who can contact me and I can contact Him?
• How do I know who that God is? What kind of God? How do I know who God is?
o No greater picture of God through Jesus Christ
• How powerful is the God I believe in?
o Is he the creator of the Universe?
o Did he really raise the dead?
o How powerful is the person who can bring life out of death
• How much does God love me?
o That He so loved the world that He gave His own son.
o He gave all He had
Fear is a very normal emotion. It is God’s gift to us to help us to avoid destructive behaviors and circumstances. But abnormal and habitual fear can paralyze and destroy us. God provides us with a faith so powerful that we can be set free from paralyzing fear.
~ Dr. Phil Lineberger