Conquering Our Fears
Judges - "Walking in His Blessings" • Sermon • Submitted
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Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’ ”
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.
Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced his perfect love.
So the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the Lord. They forgot the Lord their God, and served the Baals and Asherahs. Therefore the anger of the Lord was hot against Israel, and He sold them into the hand of Cushan-Rishathaim king of Mesopotamia; and the children of Israel served Cushan-Rishathaim eight years. When the children of Israel cried out to the Lord, the Lord raised up a deliverer for the children of Israel, who delivered them: Othniel the son of Kenaz, Caleb’s younger brother.
Then the Angel of the Lord came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said: “I led you up from Egypt and brought you to the land of which I swore to your fathers; and I said, ‘I will never break My covenant with you. And you shall make no covenant with the inhabitants of this land; you shall tear down their altars.’ But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’ ”
We have come to terms with the inflexibility of God’s commands and our moving toward obedience.
We have come to terms with the inflexibility of God’s commands and our moving toward obedience.
However, when we as God’s children do not move in obedience we do not experience the power of faith and hope, but rather fear!
And this is a tactic the enemy uses to defeat us!
I. Fear is the Weapon of the Enemy.
I. Fear is the Weapon of the Enemy.
A. It Paralyzes
I remember this picture in a wildlife encyclopedia I had when I was a boy.
There was a frog sitting on a log while right next to him was a water snake swallowing the frog that apparently had just been sitting with him. The caption read something like “Paralyzed by fear, he doesn’t know he will be next”
Paralysis from fear is a perception problem!
I can lay a 2 x 6 plank out on the floor and if you are able bodied you will probably have no problem walking across it.
Now, let me take the same width board and secure it across Niagara falls, and I doubt anyone would even put a foot on it.
What changed?
Your perception!
Why did peter sink while walking on the water? His perception was changed when he took his eyes off Jesus!
What paralyzes you?
And isn’t it because your perception of the situation is skewed because you’re focusing on the wrong thing?
B. It Defeats
Once the Israelites, spiritually, had wandered far from the Lord, they were like putty in the Devil’s hands.
They cried out to God because they felt so defeated by their enemies.
Sometimes, the defeated attitude they felt was so deep, that they even doubted God when He appeared to them and told them what they would do.
Like Gideon. He put the fleece out twice!
C. It causes you to have a low estimation of God.
II. Fear comes from a low estimation of God.
Fear defeats
D. It forces us to live timidly
How big is your God?
That was the title of Chuck Swindoll’s Nov 1 2016 devotion. This is what he said:
When your God is too small, your problems are too big and you retreat in fear and insecurity. But when your God is great, your problems pale into insignificance and you stand in awe as you worship the King. - Chuck Swindoll
Chuck Swindoll
Chuck Swindoll
You see, there is no limit to God’s power or wisdom!
He is bigger than all our problems combined!
And, that’s why -
if fear is the weapon of the enemy...
II. Fear is Defeated in Christ.
II. Fear is Defeated in Christ.
The problem the Israelites carried into the time of Judges, just like we still do in our own lives today, is that we forget that Jesus provides everything.
When the Israelites wandered through the wilderness for 40 years, they needed water. Moses was instructed to strike the rock at Meribah and it brought forth water.
The rock was Horeb - which means waste and dried up. Moses named the place Marah and Meribah which means contention. .
The second time they were without water and thought they’d perish, God told Moses to speak to the rock, but Moses got flustered and struck it a second time, Numbers 20:8.
God was trying to demonstrate what Jesus would do for sin. He was stricken once (crucified), and then those who drank from this well of living water, entered into a relationship with Him.
The Apostle Paul says in , that the rock that followed them in the wilderness was Christ.
and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ.
I’m reminded here of what Jesus said in John:
On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”
Jesus answered and said to her, “Whoever drinks of this water will thirst again, but whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”
John 4
Have you drunk from the living fountain of Christ?
Because when you do, there will be an everlasting flood of hope that will quench all the fear that hell can hurl at you!
Trust in Him and live for Him and walk with Him!
casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you.
1 Peter
Cast your burdens upon Him for He cares for you, Peter says
I’ll close with a reminder of what is recorded in the N.T.
When His coming was announced to the Shepherds, the angel said “fear not for I bring you good tidings” .
When Jesus came to His disciples walking on the water in He said to them “do not be afraid it is I”.
When Peter saw the incredible catch of fish in his nets, he feared, but Jesus said to him, “do not fear, from now on you will catch men .
Even talking about those that can kill the body in , jesus said don’t be afraid because that’s all they can do.
When the women came to the tomb to prepare the body of Jesus, an angel appeared to them and said, “Do not be afraid for I know you seek Jesus who was crucified.” .
When on his way to Caesar for his appeal, and caught in a Typhoon, the Lord Himself spoke to Paul saying “do not be afraid Paul, you must be brought before Caesar” .
And when John saw the risen Christ and feared, on the Island of Patmos, Jesus said to him, “Do not be afraid, I am the First and the last” .