Fear Not

 And there shall be signs in the sun, and in the moon, and in the stars; and upon the earth distress of nations, with perplexity; the sea and the waves roaring; Men’s hearts failing them for fear, and for looking after those things which are coming on the earth: for the powers of heaven shall be shaken. And then shall they see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Luke 21:25-27 

Today we are facing a great a fearful thing on our way of life. It’s called the coronavirus. It has brought fear to the world.

I am glad that we have God to help us through this time of uncertainty. We have questions that can’t be answered.

• How deadly is the coronavirus? 
• How long will it last? 
• How many people will get it? 
• What do we do if we get it? 

The questions go on and on but no real answers.

The world is full of fear, filled with dread, and not knowing what to do about their fears. It seems that the whole of mankind is teeter-tottering on the brink of disaster and panic. Every once in awhile we see a small part of the panic take place whenever there is even a hint of trouble coming.

That is what is happening in our world this very day. But for those who know the Lord can find peace in the time of trouble.

But now thus saith the LORD that created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed thee, I have called thee by thy name; thou art mine. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the LORD thy God, the Holy One of Israel, thy Saviour. Isaiah 43:1-3 

I’m here to tell you this morning, that you, too, may be standing on the threshold of God’s greatest promise for you; yet, you need to know that you will never claim God’s blessings if you allow fear to dominate your life!

Paul, in 2 Timothy 1:7, tells us:

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.

Fear robs us of our perspective on things - it destroys our viewpoint - and, it brings the worst side of us out into the open. Fear brings out complaining, distrust, finger pointing, and despair in people.

God had provided the Israelites with victory over their Egyptian oppressors. He delivered them through their wilderness experiences. He had offered His chosen people a new plan for living through the Ten Commandments. And now, God was giving them real estate, a new land for the building of their nation. But the people were found cowering in their tents, fearful, griping and groaning over their circumstances, complaining that "God brought us all this way just to deliver us to the Amorites!"

Here they were, only three days' journey through the wilderness, yet they simply could not get up enough courage to take that step and conquer the land in the name of God.

Fear causes us to lose the ability to see clearly, to see things in their true perspective. Fear spreads like wildfire among the people.

It is fear itself, not the object of that fear, that destroys us. Playing on our minds and causing us to deny the power of God, in our lives, to give us the victory. Fear causes us to lose sight of the promise, found in Philippians 4:13.

I can do all things through Christ which strengthened me.

The greater our fear becomes, the weaker our reasoning ability becomes. Fear distorts God’s purposes in our lives. Fear can be compared to an octopus reaching out its tentacles to each and everyone around us. It causes the contagious environment of discouragement to grip us tight in its tentacles, trapping us in a state of mind where we will eventually become hysterical and unable to function properly.

Fear bring discouragement to us. The word "discourage" means to take away courage - it drains us of our vitality.

Discouragement is an extremely contagious circumstance and it can infect an entire nation - not just for a day - not just for a week - not just for a month - but, in this case, for a whole entire generation.

Then I said to you, "Do not be terrified; do not be afraid of them. The Lord your God, who is going before you, will fight for you, as he did for you in Egypt, before your very eyes, and in the desert. There you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a father carries his son, all the way you went until you reached this place. In spite of this, you did not trust in the Lord your God, who went ahead of you on your journey, in fire by night and in a cloud by day, to search out places for you to camp and to show you the way you should go." Deuteronomy 1:29

The Israelites were not facing some mysterious, unknown entity, something that came out of nowhere, demanding that they place their trust in untested or uncharted waters. God had gone before them, leading the way, bringing them safely through their wilderness experience. This was the same God who had remained steadfastly by their side, who had provided for their every need. This was their Heavenly Father who was worthy of the same trust that an infant child would place in his or her earthly parents, but, even more so, because He had already proved Himself time and time again.

God had ordered their steps all the way, nurturing them, protecting them, doing everything possible to establish a fully trusting relationship. Yet, when "push came to shove," they simply could not pass the test. The Israelites were given a test to reveal whether or not they really and truly trusted God and, guess what? You got it, they failed the test!

We are living in the last days and things are happening every day that point to the return of our Lord. I dare say that the signs are there already and yet there are many more to come before it’s all over. The world is ripe for the rise of the Antichrist even now and it is very possible that he is alive on Planet Earth right now and is becoming the man of sin that the Bible describes him to be. When the time is right, after the rapture of the church, he will step forward and be received as a hero by all of the people of the earth. He will seem to be a man of peace at first, but it won’t be long until his true nature comes forth and then his presence will strike fear into the heart of mankind so that they dare not defy him.

Are we living in the last days ? Yes, I think we are, but God’s people need not fear because God is with us. Christians need not fear for God’s Word promises full and complete provision and deliverance.

Some of us can easily identify with the this story of “Little Johnny”:

Five-year old Johnny was in the kitchen as his mother was preparing supper. She asked him to go into the pantry and get her a can  of tomato soup, but he didn’t want to go in alone. "It’s dark in there and I’m scared." She asked again, and he persisted. Finally she said, "It’s OK--Jesus will be in there with you." Johnny walked hesitantly to the door and barely opened it very slowly. He peeked inside, saw it was dark, and started to leave when all at once he had an idea. He said: "Jesus, if you’re in there, would you hand me that can of tomato soup?"

And another story about "Little Suzy":

One summer night during a severe thunderstorm a mother was tucking Little Suzy into bed. Her mother was about to turn the light off when Suzy asked in a trembling voice, "Mommy, will you stay with me all night?" Smiling, the mother gave her a warm, reassuring hug and said tenderly, "I can’t dear. I have to sleep in Daddy’s room." A long silence followed after mom walked out and turned the light off. At last the silence was broken by small, shaky voice saying, "The big sissy!"

But the Child of God has no business thinking like that. Paul told Timothy:

For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of
a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7

Fear is replaced by power of the Holy Spirit.

Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because
greater is he that is in you, than he that is in the world. I John 4:4

How firm a foundation, ye saints of the Lord,

Is laid for your faith in His excellent word!

What more can He say than to you He hath said—

To you who for refuge to Jesus have fled?

“Fear not, I am with thee, oh, be not dismayed,

For I am thy God, and will still give thee aid;

I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,

Upheld by My gracious, omnipotent hand.

“When through the deep waters I call thee to go,

The rivers of sorrow shall not overflow;

For I will be with thee thy trouble to bless,

And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

“When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,

My grace, all-sufficient, shall be thy supply;

The flame shall not harm thee; I only design

Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

“The soul that on Jesus doth lean for repose,

I will not, I will not, desert to his foes;

That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,

I’ll never, no never, no never forsake.”