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Whom Shall I Fear?
I have struggled with fear most of my life.
ER visit to Idaho.
In these last days, the Lord has told us that there would be a great spirit of fear, where “Men’s hearts would fail them because of fear” WE ARE IN THE LAST DAYS> WE ARE IN THE BOOK OF REVELATION.
We will see and experience catastrophes in the earth, bloodshed, persecution and affliction
There is a spirit of antichrist being released. It is ALLURING.
God is sending out a strong spirit of delusion that those who continued to refuse to hear the truth will believe the lie. 2 Thes 2:11
I came here to tell you tonight, “DO NOT FEAR”
Rev 2:8-11
“These are the words of the First and the Last who died and came to life [again]:
9 ‘I know your suffering and your poverty, (but you are rich) and how you are blasphemed and slandered by those who say they are Jews and are not, but are a synagogue of Satan. 10 Fear nothing that you are about to suffer. Be aware that the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested [in your faith], and for ten days you will have tribulation. Be faithful to the point of death, and I will give you the crown of life. 11 He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches. He who overcomes will not be hurt by the second death ([f]the lake of fire).’
Smyrna was a center of commerce, wealth and architectural splendor. The name Smyrna means “myrrh”, a fragrant spice obtained from a flowering myrrh tree when it is pierced or crushed. It was fitting for this name for the church in that city because it was often pierced, crushed and afflicted.
The city was a center of idolatrous emperor worship. As early as A.D.26, during the reign of Tiberius Caesar, a temple was erected to the emperor and all the citizens of Smyrna, including the Christians, were expected to worship the Roman Emperor. You were called upon once a year to appear at the temple and either say, “Caesar is lord” or “Jesus is LORD”. Those who refused to confess Caesar as their lord were either imprisoned or put to the sword.
Rom 10 “IF you shall confess that JESUS is LORD” is not a recipe for salvation, but an encouragement to the early Roman Christians enduring this type of affliction.
Imagine if you will Jews in Nazi Germany:
travel as restricted, shops vandalized, livelihood destroyed, temples defiled, property seized, humiliated, stigmatized, slandered, harassed, assaulted, lives and children’s lives taken, poverty as a result of persecution, reputations ruined by smear campaigns.
This type of affliction and persecution was inflicted by the Roman government and the Jewish community.
“FEAR NOTHING YOU ARE ABOUT TO SUFFER”
Fear nothing. Fear no man. Fear no devil.
Fear is real.
There is a type of fear that we must overcome.
Fear of man.
Everyone struggles with insecurity and the fear of rejection to some degree. And there’s nothing wrong with wanting people to like you. But when we are so focused on being people pleasers that our fear of being rejected, judged or criticized controls our choices, we’re being controlled by the fear of man.
Paul said this:
Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? Or do I seek to please men? For if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Christ.
BONDSERVANT- set free, but served because they loved their Master
Along with the fear of man comes a fear of rejection
Symptoms:
You lack assertiveness when it comes to your social interactions.
You lack courage to speak up and raise a different point of view.
You lack a sense of personal identity. HUGE
You are dissatisfied with life, but instead of vocalizing it openly, you tend to internalize this sadness and anger within.
You’re consistently wearing different masks to please other people.
You feel as though other people have some kind of superiority over you.
You’re obsessed with acting and looking like other people.
You’re extremely conscious of what other people think of you.
You’re afraid to say no and express your opinion.
You are afraid to be labeled as different.
So then, how do we overcome this fear?
1. HE was rejected.
I know how it feels to be rejected. No father, abandon over and over by my mother. I moved all over the places in and out of different people’s homes, to never hear from them ever again. The new kid at school time and time again, the last one picked for ball games. REJECTION SUCKS.
HE WAS REJECTED. You will be rejected. Get this down in your spirit. BUT you are in good company.
Isaiah 53:3 He is despised and rejected by men, A Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
John 15:18 “If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you.”
It’s OK to be rejected. It is part of being a part of Christ.
2. Know your identity in Christ. YOU are loved and accepted by HIM.
1 John 4:18 “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love.”
I can tell you all day long, but you have to know for yourself.
You have to spend time in His Word and time in His presence.
People don’t know who they are because they don’t know who He is.
Find out WHO He is. Find out His character, His ways, His thoughts…it’s all in His Word.
Let HIM tell you who you are and what your calling is. Your purpose in unique to YOU.
And it’s not up for discussion. There is so much peace in this revelation. I struggled with this until:
You are Mine! I get to tell you what to do and I get to say how I am going to use you
3. You are peculiar! You are different.
It’s true. People will automatically be opposed to anyone who is different and will ridicule you for it.
Would you ever tell your kids, “Just be like everyone else today and do what everyone else is doing!”
“If they jump, you jump!” NO! In fact the opposite is true. If everyone jumped off a cliff….
Tebow- different, peculiar, doesn’t go the way of the world, stands in opposition
1 Peter 2:9 “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special (peculiar) people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light”
You are called to be DIFFERENT. Called to be SEPARATE! Called to look differently, act differently, talk differently, walk differently. Settle this is your Spirit.
The men and women of God who did great things were different. Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, Elijah, Paul AND they were all OK with being different and rejected. They didn’t conform to the society around them. They refused to be a part of an ungodly society. They were different.
4. He WILL be with you ALWAYS.
He never promises us we won’t go through the fire or that valley of the shadow of death. But, He does promise to go with us.
Isaiah 43:2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
And through the rivers, they shall not overflow you.
When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, Nor shall the flame scorch you.”
Psalm 27:1-3
The Lord is my light and my salvation;
Whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid? When the wicked came against me To eat up my flesh, My enemies and foes, They stumbled and fell. Though an army may encamp against me, My heart shall not fear; Though war may rise against me,
In this I will be confident.
You WILL go through things! I tell people you are in one of these 3 phases:
Fixin to go into the storm, currently in the storm, or coming out of the storm.
You will go through these things ANYWAY, why not go through them with Jesus?
KNOWING that He will be with you should give you great peace!
During this next season, the Righteous need to be COURAGEOUS! and BOLD!
There is no more time for the cowardly!
Rev 21:6 “And He said to me, “It is done![c] I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. 7 He who overcomes shall inherit all things,[d] and I will be his God and he shall be My son. 8 But the cowardly, unbelieving,[e] abominable, murderers, sexually immoral, sorcerers, idolaters, and all liars shall have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone, which is the second death.”
Proverbs 28:1 The wicked flee when no one pursues, But the righteous are bold as a lion.
Notice I said BOLD, not agitating or argumentative.
BOLDNESS in proclaiming the TRUTH of God’s Word.
We cannot continue to be conformed to the world or its ways.
WHOM shall I fear?
There is only one type of fear that is acceptable:
Matthew 10:28 “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”
People ask me all the time what the fear of the Lord looks like. My answer:
He is GOD and I am not.
He is Creator and I am His creation.
It keeps you humble and in awe of His greatness and vast awesomeness.
It is an honoring and respecting His power, majesty and holiness which produces a holy fear of transgressing His revealed will.
It should cause you to think twice about sin, disobedience and rebellion.
The fear of the Lord keeps you in His Word and at His feet.
Do you have a spirit of fear?
I want to pray for you tonight!