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COLLECTIONS
Commentaries, Word
Studies, Devotionals, Sermons, Illustrations
Old and New Testament. |
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HOW
TO HANDLE FEAR
PART 3 |
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Biblical resources on how to handle fear
Supplement to
Part 1
and
Part 2 |
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Booklets From Radio Bible Class
What
Can I Do With My Worry?
When Fear Seems Overwhelming
Messages From Dr John Piper
Fear Not, I Am with You, I Am Your God (also
Audio)
Fear Not, You Worm Jacob (Isaiah 41:14)!
Reason Believers in Christ Need Not to be Afraid
Is There Good Anxiety?
1 Peter 5:1-11 Anxieties: To Be Cast Not Carried
Matthew 6:25-34 Battling the Unbelief of Anxiety
Matthew 6:24-34 Do Not Be Anxious About Your Life
1 John 4:17-19 Perfect Love Casts Out Fear
1 Peter 1:17-19 A Sojourn on Earth in Confident Fear
Messages From Peninsula Bible
Church
Freedom From Fear
by Steve Zeisler
Life Dispels Fear
by Ron Ritchie
Faith Conquering Fear by Ray Stedman
Why are you Afraid?
by Ray Stedman
Messages From Back to the Bible
Guilt Produces Fear
- Theodore Epp
Fearing
God - Theodore Epp
Fear
Follows Great Experience - Theodore Epp
Freedom from Fear
- Elizabeth Elliot
Fear,
Suffering, Love -
Elizabeth Elliot
Fear God and Nothing Else
- Elizabeth Elliot
The Fear of Loss -
Elizabeth Elliot
Fear of Man or Woman
- Elizabeth Elliot
Messages From Sammy Tippitt
Joshua-Facing Fear
(or
here) (Audio)
Overcoming Fear- 1
Overcoming Fear- 2
Miscellaneous Resources
In Touch Ministry Lesson on How To
Handle Fear
Random Thoughts and
Devotionals on How to Handle Fear
Five Fears by C H Spurgeon
How to Overcome Fear by Ray Pritchard
(Excellent!)
Faith Overcoming Fear -- Biblical
sermon by David Curtis |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
FEAR NOT
Click and study all the 74 "fear
not" passages in the KJV
(click for 57 occurrences in NASB or
click to study the 65
occurrences in the NIV). Note who says these words most of
the time, who is being addressed, what the situation is that is
conducive to production of fear, what the effect of the command to "fear
not" had on the recipients (encouraging, discouraging?), etc.
Remember
that
everything that was written in the past was written to teach us,
so that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures we might
have hope. (See note
Romans 15:4, NIV) |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
Worry is like a rocking chair—it will
give you something to do, but it won't get you anywhere (Click
Our Daily Bread devotional) Fear always has a definite object.
Every fear object is something we perceive as both present and powerful,
something over which we have no control. This is where fear differs from
worry. People worry about something uncertain or unknown. Worry will often
give way to fear.
Ray Stedman (in exposition of
Ephesians 6:10-11) adds that
Worry comes from fear, and the only thing
that will dissolve fear is facts. Therefore, to put on the armor of God is
to face the facts just as they are. Therefore, to put on the armor of God is
to face the facts just as they are -- not as they appear to be in the
illusive picture that the world gives us, but squarely as they are.
Therefore you are to worry about nothing. (See sermon
Advice when Attacked)
(Related resource - notes on
Ephesians 6:10;
6:11);
see notes on
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
Oswald Chambers (1874-1917)
wrote that
the remarkable thing about fearing God
is that when you fear God, you fear nothing else, whereas if you do not
fear God, you fear everything else. |
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C H Spurgeon has the following
illustrations on fear...
Fear about your future.
When a great vessel
is crossing the sea, and another comes within sight, they propose the
question, "Where are you bound?" If the other vessel took no notice, gave
no answer whatever, it would look suspicious. A craft that will not say
where it is going, we don't like the look of. If one of Her Majesty's
vessels were about, and it challenged a sail, and received no reply to the
question, "Where are you bound for?" I think they would fire a shot across
her bows and make her heave to till she did answer. Might not the silent
craft prove to be a pirate? When a man confesses he does not know where he
is going, or what his business may be, the policeman concludes he is
probably going where he ought not to go, and has business on hand which is
not as it should be. If you are afraid to consider your future, your fear
is a bad omen. The tradesman who is afraid to look into his accounts will,
before long, have them looked into for him by an officer from the
Bankruptcy Court. He who dares not see his own face in the glass, must be
an ugly fellow; and you who dare not behold your characters, have bad
characters. — Barbed Arrows from the Quiver of C. H. Spurgeon
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Fear of man.
Think of a king
saying, "I am afraid," but that is what the French king said to Bernard
Palissy, the potter. As nearly as I can remember the story, the monarch
said, "Palissy, you must go to mass." "That I never will," he answered.
"Then I am afraid I shall have to give you up to be burnt." "There," said
Palissy, "your Majesty could never make me say such a word as that, with
all your power. I am no king, only a poor potter, but nobody made me say,
'I am afraid.' "Oh that fear of men, that dread of ridicule, that wishing
to avoid sarcasm! How it has made a man come down from the dignity of his
office, from the honor of the position which God has conferred upon him,
and has made him baser than the menials around him.— Barbed Arrows from
the Quiver of C. H. Spurgeon
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Fear of Sin
The old naturalist,
Ulysses Androvaldus, tells us that a dove is so afraid of a hawk, that she
will be frightened at the sight of one of its feathers. Whether it be so
or not, I cannot tell; but this I know, that when a man has had a thorough
shaking over the jaws of hell, he will be so afraid of sin, that even one
of its feathers—any one sin—will alarm and send a thrill of fear through
his soul. This is a part of the way by which
— Feathers for Arrows
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Some of
Spurgeon's sermons related to how to handle fear...
Isaiah 41:14 Fear Not
(Excerpt) I
SHALL SPEAK this morning to those that are discouraged, depressed in
spirit, and sore troubled in the Christian life. There are certain nights
of exceeding great darkness, through which the spirit has to grope in much
pain and misery, and during which much of the comfort of the Word is
particularly needed. Those seasons occur in this manner. Frequently they
occur at the outset of a religious life. A young man, deeply impressed
under the ministry, has been led to feel the weight of sin; he trusts also
he has been led to look for salvation to the Christ who is preached in the
gospel. In the young ardor of his spirit he devotes himself wholly to
Christ; with the most solemn vows he dedicates body, soul, time, talents,
all that he has, to the great work of serving God; he thinks it easy to
fulfill his vow; he doth not count the cost; he reckons it will be easy to
forsake gay companions, to renounce old established habits, and to become
a Christian. Alas! before many days he finds out his mistake, if he did
not reckon without his host he certainly reckoned without his heart, for
his evil heart of unbelief had deceived him, he knew not how hard would be
the struggle, and how desperate the wrestling between his old evil nature
and the new-born principle of grace within him. He finds it to be like the
rending off of right arms to give up old and cherished habits; he
discovers it to be painful to renounce his former pursuits, as painful as
it would be to pluck out his right eye. He sits down then, and he says,
"If this be the trouble at the outset what may I expect as I proceed. O my
soul, thou wast too fast in dedicating thyself to God; thou hast
undertaken a warfare which thy prowess can never accomplish; thou hast
started on a journey for which thy strength is not adequate; let me again
return unto the world;" and if the Spirit saith, "Nay, thou canst not,"
then the poor soul sits itself down in deep misery, and cries, "I can not
go back and I can not go forward; what must I do? I am exceedingly
discouraged because of the way."
The same feeling
often overcomes the most valiant Christian veteran. He who has been long
experienced in the things of the divine life will sometimes be over taken
with a dark night and a stormy tempest; so dark will be the night, that he
will not know his right hand from his left, and so horrible the tempest,
that he can not hear the sweet words of his Master, saying, "Fear not, I
am with thee." Periodical tornadoes and hurricanes will sweep o'er the
Christian; he will be subjected to as many trials in his spirit as trials
in his flesh. This much I know, if it be not so with all of you it is so
with me. I have to speak to-day to myself; and whilst I shall be
endeavoring to encourage those who are distressed and down-hearted, I
shall be preaching, I trust to myself, for I need something which shall
cheer my heart—Why I can not tell, wherefore I do not know, but I have a
thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me; my soul is cast
down within me, I feel as if I had rather die than live; all that God hath
done by me seems to be forgotten, and my spirit flags and my courage
breaks down with the thought of that which is to come. I need your
prayers; I need God's Holy Spirit; and I felt that I could not preach
to-day, unless I should preach in such a way as to encourage you and to
encourage myself in the good work and labor of the Lord Jesus Christ.
What a precious
promise to the young Christian, or to the old Christian attacked by
lowness of spirits and distress of mind! "Fear not, thou worm Jacob, and
ye men of Israel; I will help thee, saith the Lord, and thy redeemer the
Holy One of Israel. Christian brethren, there are some in this
congregation, I hope many, who have solemnly devoted themselves to the
cause and service of the Lord Jesus Christ: let them hear, then, the
preparation which is necessary for this service set forth in the word of
our text. First, before we can do any great things for Christ there must
be a sense of weakness: "Worm Jacob." Secondly, there must be trust in
promised strength; and thirdly, there must be fear removed by that
promise: "Fear not, for I will help thee." (Read
the full message)
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Isaiah 41:10 Away With Fear
(Pdf)
(Excerpt)
...First, then, we are reminded Of A Very Common Disease Of Good Men-Fear
And Dismay.
This disease of fear
came into man’s heart with sin. Adam never was afraid of his God till he
had broken his commands. When the Lord God walked in the garden in the
cool of day, and Adam heard the Almighty’s foot-fall, he hastened to
commune with God as a dear child talks with a loving father. But the
moment he had touched the fruit that was forbidden, he ran away and hid
himself, and when God said, “Where art thou, Adam?” Adam came cringing
and trembling, for he was afraid of God. It is sin, consciousness of sin,
that “makes cowards of us all.” Though he who made us is a consuming
fire, and we should always have a holy awe of him, yet the fear that
gendereth bondage would never have come into our spirit if we had not
first of all transgressed his law. Sin is the mother of the fear which
hath torment.
And, brethren, fear
continues in good men because sin continues in them. If they had attained
to perfect love it would cast out fear, for fear hath torment; but, since
the flesh is still in them and the lusts thereof still strive for the
mastery, even the holiest of God’s people are sometimes afflicted with the
mockings of the child of the bondwoman. O that he were cast out, for he
can never be heir with the free-born nature! As grace grows and increases
in power, fear declines; and, when sin is cut up root and branch, then no
doubt or fear will ever vex us again. Once strip us of these houses of
clay, once deliver us from all indwelling sin, and our spirits shall seek
God as the sparks seek the sun; but until then, since by reason of
weakness sin sometimes prevaileth, fear also prevaileth, and we are sadly
cast down.
Fear, coming in by
sin and being sustained by sin, readily finds food upon which it may live.
Let the believer look within, and, my brethren, he has only to do that but
for a moment to see abundant reasons for fear. “Ah!” saith fear as it
looks within, at the heart still prone to wander, I shall never hold on my
way.” “Ah!” saith fear as it looks at the besetting sin, “I shall be
tripped up yet; I shall never persevere to the end.” Grace is there, it
is true, but fear is blind to the better nature, and fixes his glance only
on the body of this death. Looking within upon the old nature is seldom a
very pleasant operation, especially if we forget that it is crucified with
Christ. I suppose if any man among us could see his own heart as it really
is, he would be driven mad. The poet was right when he said —
“Heaven’s
Sovereign saves all beings but himself,
That hideous sight, a naked human heart.”
Faith looks at all
the ruins of the fall, and she believes that the blood of Christ will get
the victory, and she sings her poem of triumph even while the fight is
raging, rejoicing with the apostle, that “Where sin abounded, grace did
much more abound: that as sin hath reigned unto death, even so might grace
reign through righteousness unto eternal life by Jesus Christ our Lord.”
But fear saith, “I shall one day fall by the hand of the enemy; such a
poor frail bark as mine will never stem the flood and weather the tempest,
but I shall make shipwreck after all.” And then, my brethren, if fear
finds food within, it also very readily finds food without. Sometimes it
is poverty, sometimes sickness, sometimes the recollection of the past,
and quite as often dread of the future. Even those who have faith in God
may occasionally be weak enough to fear and be dismayed about common
circumstances to which they ought to be indifferent, or over which they
ought by faith to exult. Desponding people can find reason for fear where
no fear is. A certain class of persons are greatly gifted with the
mournful faculty of inventing troubles. If the Lord has not sent them any
trial, they make one for themselves. They have a little trouble-factory in
their houses, and they sit down and use their imaginations to meditate
terror. They weave sackcloth and scrape up ashes. They know that they
shall be bankrupt; there was a little falling off in their trade last
week. They believe that they shall soon be too old for labor; it is true
they are older than they were a month ago. They feel sure that they shall
die in the workhouse; it is clear they will die somewhere. They feel
certain about this dreadful thing and that, and fret accordingly. None of
these things have happened to them yet, and in the judgment of others they
are less likely to happen now than ever they were, but yet they convert
their suspicions into realities, and torture themselves with them though
they be but fancies. Oh! it is sad that we should degrade ourselves to
this. (Click
for full message)
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Revelation 1:17 Fear Not (Pdf)
“FEAR not” is a
plant which grows very plentifully in God’s garden. If you look through
the lily beds of Scripture you will continually find by the side of other
flowers the sweet “Fear nots” peering out from doctrines and precepts,
even as violets look up from their hiding among places of green leaves.
“Fear nots” bloomed in the old time, at the feet of Abraham, when he
returned from fighting with the kings. Melchisedec blessed him, and the
Lord comforted him. The patriarch might have been half afraid that he
would always lead a troubled life, now that he had once drawn the sword;
but the Lord came to him in vision, and said, “Fear not, Abram. I am thy
shield, and thy exceeding great reward.” If he had to undergo a soldier’s
toils, he should have a soldier’s shield and a soldier’s pay, and both
should be exceeding great, for he should find them both in God. After you
have been fighting battles for Christ you may feel weary and worried, and
then your great Melchisedec will refresh you with bread and wine, and
whisper in your ear “Fear not.”
A “Fear not” was
spoken to Isaac when he had dug wells, and the Philistines strove for
them, and he, like the meek soul that he was, gave them up one by one to
avoid a conflict. At last he settled down at Beersheba, and there the Lord
appeared unto him, and said, “Fear not, for I am with thee, and will
bless thee.” He was a feeble man, and therefore the Lord dealt tenderly
with him. If any of you are meek and quiet spirits, and rather apt to
tremble exceedingly, may the Lord often give you a blessed “Fear not” to
wear in your bosoms, that its fragrance may comfort your hearts. Then
there was Jacob. You know how troubled his life was, but when he heard
that his beloved son whom he thought was dead was alive in Egypt, and was
clothed with glory, and that he had sent for him to go down to see him, he
was afraid to go till the Lord said to him, “Fear not to go down into
Egypt,” and gave him this encouraging promise, “I will go down with thee
into Egypt.” If any of you are making a great change in life and moving,
perhaps, to the very ends of the earth, “fear not to go down into
Egypt.” Should God command you to go to the utmost verge of the green
earth, to rivers unknown to Bong, yet if he bids you go, fear not to go
down into Egypt, for certainly he will be with you.
The Israelites at
the Red Sea were afraid of Pharaoh, and then the Lord said to them, “Fear
not, stand still and see the salvation of God.” If you are brought to a
pass to-night, and know not what to do, take the advice, of Holy
Scripture, and “Fear not”; but “stand still and see the salvation of
God.” As we observe the Scriptures we perceive that “Fear nots” are
scattered throughout the Bible as the stars are sprinkled over the whole
of the sky, but when we come to Isaiah we find constellations of them.
When I was a boy I learnt Dr. Watts’s catechism, and I am glad I did. One
of its questions runs thus, “Who was Isaiah?” And the answer is, “He
was that prophet who spake more of Jesus Christ than all the rest.” Very
well, and for that very reason-that he spoke more of Jesus Christ than all
the rest-he is richest in comfort to the people of God, and continually he
is saying, “Fear not.” Here are a few of his antidotes for the fever of
fear: “Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not.”
“Fear thou not, for I am with thee; be not dismayed, for I am thy God.”
“Fear not, I will help thee.” “Fear not, thou worm Jacob.” “Fear not,
I have redeemed thee.” “Fear not, for thou shalt not be ashamed; neither
be thou confounded, for thou shalt not be put to shame”; and so on, I was
going to say, “world without end.” So abundant are these “Fear nots”
that they grow like the king-cups and the daisies, and other sweet flowers
of the meadows, among which the little children in the spring-time delight
themselves. As to gathering them all, no one would attempt the task. The
bank that is fullest of these beautiful flowers is that which Isaiah has
cast up; go there and pluck them for yourselves.
Now I gather from
the plentifulness of “Fear nots,” even in the Old Testament, that the
Lord does not wish his people to be afraid, that he is glad to see his
people full of courage, and especially that he does not love them to be
afraid of him. He would have his children treat him with confidence.
Slavish fear may be thought to be congenial to the Old Testament, and yet
it is not so, for there the Lord cries to his chosen, “Fear not.”
When we come into
the New Testament, there we see God coming more familiarly to men than
ever before; not descending upon Paran with ten thousand flaming chariots,
setting the mountain on a blaze, but coming down to Bethlehem in an
infant’s form, with angels chanting the joyful lay, “Glory to God in the
highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men.” The genius of the New
Testament is drawing near to God: ceasing to tremble and beginning to
trust, ceasing to be the slave and learning to be the child. Though in the
precise form of it the words of my text were not very often spoken by the
Lord Jesus Christ, yet his whole life was one long proclamation of “Fear
not.” I think I shall give you to-night most of the instances in which
our Lord himself expressly said “Fear not,” and as each one I shall give
you will either come from the lip of Christ, or else from Christ’s own
angel, sent to comfort one of his servants, I pray that it may come fresh
from God to every tried and troubled believer, and that all of us together
may receive for our different fears this one same solace from the mouth of
the Eternal, “Thus saith the Lord unto thee, fear not.” (Click
for full sermon) ><>><>><>
Other
Sermons by C H Spurgeon on Fear
Psalm 56:3 Faith Hand in Hand with Fear
(Pdf)
Matthew 14:31 Mr. Fearing Comforted (Pdf)
Isaiah 51:12, 13 Needless Fears |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
Eugene Asa Carr (1830-1910) once
wrote that
The only sure way to take fear out of living is to keep a
respectful fear of God in our lives, which means to maintain a reverent
attitude toward His place and influence. This brand of fear is a healthy
ingredient, a deterrent to want, a spur to courage and confidence, an
insurance against loss, and source of comfort and understanding. |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
Whenever John Wesley felt afraid
he would just pause to pray and praise God for the fact that He was still
on the throne of heaven ruling all things well. Wesley wrote
I have
never known more than fifteen minutes of anxiety or fear. Whenever, I feel
fearful emotions overtaking me I just close my eyes and thank God that he
is still on the throne reigning over everything and I take comfort in His
control over all the affairs of my life. |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
Ray Stedman reminds us that
The devil always makes his appeal in this realm to our fears, while God
makes his appeal to faith. From faith comes hope and love, but the devil
pushes to the opposite. He wants us to give way to our fears.
The one thing Jesus said over and over again to his disciples was, "Fear
not. Be not fearful, be not anxious, be not troubled." Why? Because, "I am
with you," he said. From fear comes despair, the opposite of hope, and hate,
the opposite of love. That is what the devil is after. If you give way to
fear, you will soon be discouraged and defeated. If you give way to defeat
you will begin to hate, and then the devil will have accomplished his
purpose. He has destroyed, he had ruined, he has laid waste that which God
loves and desires to bless. (See full sermon
The Tactics of Terror) |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
Excerpt from John
Piper's sermon
Fear Not, I Am with You, I Am Your God
Isaiah
41:1-13
There are two commands
in the verse (Isaiah
41:1-13) not to fear and five pillars of fearlessness. "Fear
not" is the first command at the beginning of the verse. And then the
second is "do not anxiously look about you" (RSV: "do not be dismayed").
As always in the Bible, there are reasons for the commands. Commands don't
hang in the air with no basis in reality. If God commands us to do
something there are good reasons to do it. And power comes from
understanding and believing those reasons.
Here there are the five reasons--call them
The Five Pillars of Fearlessness.
"For I am
with you"--
"Do not fear, for I am with you."
"I am your God"--
"Do not look anxiously about you, for I am your God."
"I will strengthen you."
"surely I will help you."
"Surely I will uphold you with My righteous right hand."
Restated, the Five
pillars of fearlessness are:
God is with
me;
God is my God;
God will strengthen me;
God will help me;
God will uphold me.
When God calls you to
be free from fear as you do evangelism, as you take a test, as you
face an interview, as you take a stand against an unjust business
practice, as you confront someone with sin in their life, when you leave a
secure position and take a risk in a new venture, when you face an
operation or a treatment, when you lose a spouse or a friend--when God
calls you to be free from fear (to overcome this natural emotion and have
peace, he does not leave the command hanging in the air. He puts pillars
under it. Five of them. That's the nature of all Biblical commands. They
come with divine support.
Fear not . .
. God is with you;
Fear not . . . God is your God;
Fear not . . . God will strengthen you;
Fear not . . . God will help you;
Fear not . . . God will uphold you
The key to
overcoming fear is resting on the pillars of the promises of God....If
the key to fearlessness is believing that God is your God and is with you
and will strengthen you and help you and uphold you, then knowing the
greatness of this God will intensify your faith and your fearlessness....
Or change the image for
a moment. Not five pillars. But God in five relations to you expressed in
five different prepositions.
I am your
God--over you.
I am with you--by your side.
I will strengthen you--from inside of you.
I will help you--all around you from wherever the enemy comes
I will uphold you--from underneath you.
Over you, by you,
inside you, around you, underneath you.
Therefore do not fear.
We come to the end of
this series with one great ground for fearlessness--GOD!
I - am your
God.
I - am with you.
I - will strengthen you.
I - will help you.
I - will uphold you.
I call you this morning
to stop defining and limiting your future in terms of your past and start
defining it in terms of your God. I call you to recognize that God is
greater than your personality. God is greater than your past experiences
of timidity. God is greater than your "family of origin". And God calls
you to joyful fearlessness. The crucial factor in your fearless living is
not your family but your God.
"Let not your
hearts be troubled, BELIEVE IN GOD."
Believe in God! Trust God! Let God be your God!
Your help. Your strength.
He will uphold you with His righteous right hand.
(Click
for message - Fear Not, I Am with You, I Am Your God) |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
From sermon by
John Piper
"Fear not, you worm Jacob,
you men of Israel!
I will help you, says the Lord;
your redeemer is the Holy One of Israel."
--Isaiah
41:14
The main point of this text is that
the people of God should not be a fearful people. We should not be a
people who are anxious or troubled or worried or fretful about things that
threaten our life and happiness: economic adversity, hostile people,
satanic opposition, guilt-laden consciences, deteriorating health, and
death. The mark of God's people is not incapacitating fear, but rather
contrite courageous confidence in God. That's the main point of
Isaiah 41:14.
Then there are two subordinate points which clarify for us this experience
of fearlessness. First, God's people are in the condition of a worm: "Fear
not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel." Second, the source of our
fearlessness is the promise that God will help us: "Fear not, you worm
Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you, says the Lord; your Redeemer is
the Holy One of Israel." In other words, freedom from fretting comes not
because we are not in the condition of a worm but because God engages all
his forces on behalf of worms who take refuge in him. (See entire message
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Fear Not, You Worm Jacob (Isaiah 41:14)!)
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
Reason Believers in Christ Need Not to be Afraid
by John Piper
We will not die apart from God's
gracious decree for His children.
James 4:14-15, "If the Lord wills, we
will live and do this or that."
Mt 10:29-30, "Are not two sparrows
sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from
your Father. But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. 31 Fear
not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows."
Dt 32:39, "See now that I, even I, am
he, and there is no god beside me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I
heal; and there is none that can deliver out of my hand." (See
Job 1:21;1
Sa 2:6;
2 Ki 5:7)
Curses and divination do not hold sway
against God's people.
Nu 23:23, "There is no enchantment
against Jacob, no divination against Israel."
The plans of terrorists and hostile
nations do not succeed apart from our gracious God.
Psalm 33:10, "The Lord brings the
counsel of the nations to nothing; he frustrates the plans of the
peoples." (Spurgeon's
Note)
Isa 8:9-10, "Take counsel together
[you peoples], but it will come to nothing; speak a word, but it will not
stand, for God is with us." (See 2 Samuel 7:14; Nehemiah 4:15)
Man cannot harm us beyond God's
gracious will for us.
Psalm 118:6, "The Lord is on my side; I
will not fear. What can man do to me?" (Spurgeon's
Note)
Psalm 56:11, "In God I
trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?" (Spurgeon's
Note)
God promises to protect His own from
all that is not finally good for them.
Psalm 91:14, "Because he holds fast to
me in love, I will deliver him; I will protect him, because he knows my
name." (Spurgeon's
Note)
God promises to give us all we need to
obey, enjoy, and honor Him forever.
Mt 6:31, "Therefore do not be
anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What
shall we wear?' . . . Your heavenly Father knows that you need them all.
But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these
things will be added to you."
Philippians 4:19 (note)
"And my God will supply every need of yours according to his riches in
glory in Christ Jesus."
God is never taken off guard.
Psalm
121:4 (note), "Behold, he who keeps
Israel will neither slumber nor sleep." (Spurgeon's
Note)
God will be with us, help us, and
uphold us in trouble.
Isaiah 41:10, "Fear not, for I am with
you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will
help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."
Isaiah 41:13, "For I, the LORD your God,
hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, 'Fear not, I am the one who
helps you.'"
Terrors will come, some of us will die,
but not a hair of our heads will perish.
Lu 21:10-11, 18, "Then [Jesus] said
to them, '. . . there will be terrors (!) and great signs from heaven. . .
. and some of you they will put to death. . . . But not a hair of your
head will perish.'"
Nothing befalls God's own but in its
appointed hour.
Jn 7:30, "So they were seeking to
arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet
come." (See John 8:20; 10:18)
When God Almighty is your helper, none
can harm you beyond what He decrees.
Hebrews 13:6 (note), "So we can confidently say,
'The Lord is my helper; I will not fear; what can man do to me?'"
Romans 8:31 (note)
"If God is for us, who can be against us?"
God's faithfulness is based on the firm
value of His name, not the fickle measure of our obedience.
1 Sa 12:20-22,
"And Samuel said to the people, 'Do not be afraid; you have done all this
evil. . . . For the Lord will not forsake his people, for his great name's
sake.'"
The Lord, our protector, is great and
awesome
Nehemiah 4:14, "Do not be afraid of them.
Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome." (Reason Believers in Christ Need Not to be Afraid)
Trusting firm promises with you in
fragile times, Pastor John (Piper). |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
FEAR OF REJECTION
from
Overcoming Fear-pt1 by Sammy Tippitt
Fear has also paralyzed the Body of
Christ. One fear that knows no boundaries, has no time limitations, is
found in Eastern and Western Europe as well as in the United States. It
cripples the church and robs men of the blessing of the Lord.
It's the fear of rejection. All people have a deep fear of being
rejected by their friends and family members. In the East, that fear runs
even deeper. Christians may be rejected for sharing the gospel, and then,
they lose educational and economic opportunities.
The need for acceptance stems back to the beginning of human history. When
Adam was in the garden with Eve, his every need was met. There was no
fear. God walked and fellowshipped with Adam. There was perfect harmony.
However, when Adam and Eve disobeyed God, fear filled their hearts. When
God visited them, they hid. God is holy, and they had become unholy. Since
that day, there has been a deep sense of rejection in the heart of sinful
man.
Every person desperately wants acceptance. We try to gain acceptance in
three ways. One way is legitimate; the other two are not. People try to
find acceptance through other people. A teen might try drinking or drugs.
He thinks that will get his friends to accept him. After he has
compromised, the sinking feeling of rejection remains. A girl might
compromise her moral principles to gain acceptance. But after her sexual
encounters, she is still haunted by rejection.
I've met husband and wives who loved each other when they married, yet
several years later, they almost hate each other. How can this be? The
moment one feels rejected by the other, there's a feeling of betrayal.
They though they had conquered rejection through the relationship, but
rejection follows them through their lives. Young people feel rejected by
heir parents, yet some of their parents are the most loving, kind and
gracious people anyone would want to meet. Even wonderful parents can't
overcome that deep fear of rejection. No individual or group can give us
enough acceptance to conquer it.
Fear of rejection is there because of a broken relationship with a holy
God. Many attempt to please God and thus receive His acceptance. Many
become more religious. But in the shadow of their religion stands a tall,
ugly figure called "Rejection." Many churches are filled with people
working hard to escape this figure, but the fear of rejection can never be
escaped by religion.
Revival always awakens man to the true basis of acceptance. Acceptance can
be found only through faith. Martin Luther understood that "the just shall
live by faith," and he shook the world for God's glory. He didn't
experience some new faith. He came to know and experience the faith of the
spiritual giants of centuries past. His faith was the same as Abraham's,
Isaac's and Jacob's. It was the faith of Paul, Peter and John. True faith
is simply our acceptance of His acceptance of us based on what Jesus did
on the cross.
Old Testament believers found acceptance by looking forward to the
Messiah. We find our acceptance by looking back to the cross. One word
gushes forth from the cross: grace. Rejection has to flee when that word
is spoken. Hallelujah! I have been accepted! By grace I have been
accepted! Sin separated man from God. But God entered human history
uniquely through Jesus. He was unique. He was so much God that it was as
though He wasn't man. And yet, He was so much man that it was as though He
wasn't God. He was Son of God and Son of Man. He was the God-man. He
crashes through the wall of sin that separates man from God. He has become
the door through that wall. He forever stands as the doorway to God's
acceptance. And when we have been accepted by the Father, we have really
been accepted! That causes us to bow before the Father to love and worship
Him in simplicity and devotion. He has met the deepest need of our lives
through His Son, Jesus. (Source) |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
The following question was posed to the
noted expositor
John MacArthur
"What are practical ways of
dealing with Satan in terms of fear, especially at night?"
Dr MacArthur's answer
I don’t know if you’ve ever had that problem. I went through a little
phase in my life where night was a fearful thing for me—and it was wasn’t
when I was 6, it was when I was an adult. I don’t know what I was afraid
of, but I had a little time of about a couple of months there where I was
sort of, you know, in bed like this, just, you know, checking everything
out. There are people who have this problem. It may depend upon their
background and what they were saved out of... But, how do you deal
practically with fear? Well, I would suggest this method—and I’m not going
to take the time to explain all of it...Sit down with your concordance and
find every use of the word “fear” in the Bible and just trace it through
and see if you can’t build a little theology against fear.
I think the greatest thing to
give you security is to know how the Bible teaches fear and how it deals
with it.
But, let me just add this: there are two causes of fear, basically. One
is a guilty conscience. The other is a lack of trust. Two
things cause fear: sin in your life that you haven’t dealt with (then you
feel you have a right to being punished and so you’re afraid it’s going to
come) (Ed Note:
click for OT illustration or
here) or, secondly, you’re afraid because you don’t think God can handle
your situation. You’re afraid you’re going to die, you’re afraid you’re
going to get sick, you’re afraid your kids are going to get hurt, you’re
afraid the roof’s going to fall in, you’re afraid the demons are going to
get you… Whatever it is, it comes from two things. Number one, you have a
guilty conscience. Number two, a lack of faith. Now, you can deal with
both of those. A guilty conscience: confess your sin and get it all
cleaned out. A lack of faith: get your Bible open and read what God says
about himself and learn to trust him. Okay? And pray. (Source) |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
"How is it that
you have no faith?" --
Mark 4:40
Ray Stedman commenting on this section writes that
"This is why people become afraid -- because they lose faith. Faith is the answer to fear. This is the first lesson which
comes to us out of this incident (read
Mark 4:35-41). Faith is always
the answer to our fears, regardless of what they are. Jesus put his
finger right on it: "Have you no faith?
Well, evidently they did not. They
had forgotten all the things he said to them in the Sermon on the Mount
about the extent of God's care for them: "You are much more valuable than
flowers and birds. God cares for them; will he not much more care for you,
O ye of little faith?" {cf,
Matt 6:30}. Here he was in the boat
with them; their fate would be his fate; and yet they had forgotten
this...
The significance of this event to us is that faith is the answer to fear
-- faith in the goodness and care of God in our lives, faith that he loves
us and he is able to work in our midst." (Read
the full sermon Why are you Afraid?) |
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Commenting on
John 14
Ray Stedman writes that
The remedy for heart trouble is
contained in the two phrases which follow: "believe in God, believe also
in me." "Let not your hearts be troubled." How? Why, "Believe in God" --
God who is still in control, who knows what he is doing, who is capable of
exercising infinite wisdom, infinite power, and infinite love -- and,
"believe also in me," Jesus said, who is the means by which all that
wisdom and resource and power of God is made available to you. That is the
secret...the answer to fear is faith. The next time you are afraid, reach
out for a promise of God, and lay hold of it by the power of Jesus, and
your fear will vanish. There is no other answer to fear but that. Anything
else will permit the fear to come back again and again. But the promise of
God remains steady and sure, and the availability of the resources of
Jesus to lay hold of it is the way of deliverance. (Read
full sermon The Cure for Troubled Hearts) |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
There is no fear
in love;
but perfect love casts out fear,
because fear involves punishment,
and the one who fears is not perfected in love.
--
1John 4:18
Ray Stedman comments
Love accomplishes something, not only
for the future, but now. It casts out fear now. It gives us complete
freedom from fear. Before we look further at this there is a
translation we need to correct. In the RSV it says that "fear has to do
with punishment," but that is not exactly right. What it really says is,
"fear has punishment," not "has to do with punishment," as though it
always produces it. Even more literally, perhaps, since this word for
punishment comes from a root word which means to limit or to restrain,
what John is saying here is that fear has limitation, fear
imprisons us. Now is that not true? Fear imprisons us.
Anxieties, tensions, worries, apathy -- all these things are forms of
fear, and they literally imprison us, they limit us. I have known
people who were unable to go outside the door of their house because of
fear. I have seen Christian people who were unable to drive their cars
because they were ridden with anxiety, or who were afraid to meet people,
afraid to be in various circumstances. It is because fear has limitation.
Fear imprisons us, narrows us in, binds us up, limits our life, pushes us
into corners and keeps us there, and we cannot live as God intended us to
live.
This is a common experience of life, is it not? What is wrong? Well, John
puts his finger right on it. He who fears is not perfected in love. That
is the trouble, that is the analysis. Love may be in him, if the life of
God is there, but it is not perfected, it is not coming out, it is not
expressing itself, it is not manifest, it is not taking the form of deeds
and words, it is all inside. That is the trouble. Love, perfected, casts
out fear. Now do you dare try that? What a dramatic solution to the
problems of fear and anxiety, and yet, how wonderfully true it is. I have
often seen it happen. There are those who have the life of God and yet
never let it out; their pride and self-pity bind them up and they do not
want to show love, they are afraid to. They are afraid it will open them
up to be hurt, or that it will give someone an advantage over them, and so
they bottle it up, keep it in, and then they wonder why they are oppressed
by anxieties, tensions, and problems of nervousness. They are limited,
unable to move and do as they ought to. But love, perfected, casts out
fear. John is not talking about a perfect kind of love; it is love that is
made perfect, love that is perfected, love that comes to its end and
accomplishes its purpose. I have often seen people who begin to show love
to somebody else, feebly at first, tentatively, perhaps saying but a kind
word, but beginning to minister to another's need. As they did, they found
their own heart flooded with release and deliverance. Gradually they were
set free and able to be what they were intended to be. (Read
full sermon - Love's Accomplishments) |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
Joshua-Facing Fear
by Sammy Tippitt
Several years ago, during the dark
days of communism, a dear Romanian brother was traveling with me across
his country. It was very dangerous for him because he was interpreting for
me. Following the evangelistic meetings one night, he was walking to the
apartment where he was staying. He knew someone was following him. His
heart began to race. Fear gripped him. Then with one simple decision, he
shattered the fears of his heart. He kept walking faster and faster in an
attempt to get away from the person following him. Finally, he stopped and
looked straight into the eyes of the person following him. The man in
shock, turned and began walking away. My friend began following the man.
The man fled, and my friend's fear fled. Thus, my friend learned a great
lesson. The only way to overcome your fears is to face them.
There's one thing that I really appreciate about the Bible. It is SO
honest about its heroes. One of the great men of the Bible was Joshua.
Yet, we find that he had to deal with fear. In the beginning of the
account of Joshua's leadership among the children of Israel (Joshua
chapter 1), God has to tell Joshua four times (Joshua
1:6,7,9,18) "be strong and of good courage."
Joshua had much to fear
First, he had to deal with the fear
of failure.
Anyone who steps into a position of leadership understands how powerful
and paralyzing this fear can be. Joshua followed one of the greatest
leaders of all times. Moses saw the Red Sea parted; the people fed "manna"
daily; and many great signs and wonders among the people of God during
Moses forty years of leadership. Could Joshua step up to the plate and
take the reigns of leadership from such a great man of God. Certainly, he
had to deal with the fear of failure.
But a second fear must have been the fear of family and friends.
He knew how fickle the children of Israel were. He had seen them love and
revere Moses when everything was going well. But he had also seen them
become rebellious when things weren't going so well. Joshua must have had
to deal with the fear of rejection from those he loved so much.
I'm also sure that Joshua had to deal with the fear of the future.
There's a certain sense of security in being under someone's leadership.
The buck stops with him. When we're second in command, we leave all the
worries up to the top brass. However, when we are placed in the top
position of leadership, all of a sudden, we begin to realize that the
future of those whom we are leading rests in our hands. That is enough to
cause anyone to tremble in fear.
A final fear that Joshua must have faced was the fear of the foe.
He had been into the promised land as a spy. He and Caleb had come back
and told Moses, "No problem. Sure, there are giants in the land, but they
are no match for our God." That was easier to say when Moses was leading.
But now Joshua was the bottom line leader, he had to put up or shut up.
So, how did Joshua face his fears?
There's one remarkable provision for facing our fears that stands out in
the first chapter of Joshua - the word of God.
First, Joshua had the promise of God.
The Lord said to Joshua after Moses died, "No one will be able to
stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I
will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you" (Joshua
1:5 NIV). I have discovered that there's nothing like the
promises of God to enable us to face our fears. Too many Christians have
sat for too long in the church premises and have stood too little on God's
promises.
But Joshua also had the commands of God.
The word of God came to Joshua saying, "Be strong and very
courageous. Be careful to obey all the law my servant Moses gave you; do
not turn from it to the right or to the left, that you may be successful
wherever you go" (Joshua
1:7 NIV).
Obedience to
God's word drives away fear.
It gives a sense of victory and it secures God's provision.
God is looking for men and women who
are courageous. I've been in some of the most difficult areas of the
world. But I've never met a courageous Christian who wasn't standing on
the promises and walking according to the commands of God. Trust and obey
- there's no other way. (Joshua-Facing Fear) |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
Elisabeth Elliot writes that
The world is shaking with fear. "What will become of us? Where will it all
end? What if Russia...? What if cancer...? What if expression...?" The
love of God has wrapped us round from before the foundations of the world.
If we fear Him--that is, if we are brought to our knees before Him,
reverence and worship Him in absolute assurance of his sovereignty, we
cannot possibly be afraid of anything else. To love God is to destroy all
other fear. To love the world is to be afraid of everything--what it may
think of me, what it may do to me, what may happen today or tomorrow for
which I am not prepared. |
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- HOW TO HANDLE FEAR -
In his sermon
Freedom
From Fear Steve Zeisler discusses Jacob's recurring
irrational fear explaining that
Most of us suffer from irrational
fear of one kind or another, and no matter how much others reassure us
to not be fearful their words don't seem to help much. What they are
saying is true, and they mean what they say, but we don't find their
reassurance helpful. The reason we are not helped by their words, of
course, is that we are ultimately unwilling to trust God...Fear
is a spiritual problem. Left to ourselves, we will never learn how to deal
with it. All we will succeed in doing is masking and hiding what we
fear. The only way to finally overcome our fears is to allow
God to separate us from what we feel is our strength, and to fear
Him instead. Then we will never again have to fear anything.
If you suffer from the "Jacob
Syndrome" (and we all do to one degree or another) read the entire chapter
of Genesis 32 and then read Zeisler's
sermon for some very insightful
comments on how God Himself "cured" Jacob of his irrational fears, even to
the point of giving him a new name "Israel". (Click full
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