I. What is fear? There are 3 kinds
A. Greek word Eulabeia - This means to show reverence and utmost respect, we often call this Godly fear
B. Greek word Phobeo - This means to be seized with fear, struck, paralyze
1. Luke 1:30 An angel appears to Mary and quickly tells her not to be afraid. They must be something to behold, for they always preface their speeches with “do not be afraid.”
a. This can be a healthy fear; after all, it is the one that keeps you from jumping from tall places, etc. You’ve never done it, but you are still afraid. It caused Mary to fear the angel, but the angel knew that Phobeo would kick in when he appeared.
2. Matt 14:27 Jesus tells the disciples not to be afraid; they think he is a ghost.
C. Greek word Deilia - timidity, cowardice (This is the one to avoid!)
II. How can fear affect you?
1. It can cause to you do things you are not proud of....
A. Genesis 20:1-20 Abraham “lies” to the king to out of fear
B. Matt 26:69-75 Peter denies Christ three times out of fear
C. People have done things to others out of fear throughout history.
1. Deut 2:4 God warned them that Esau’s people could hurt them out of fear
2. Keep you from stepping out in faith
A. Julius Caesar Act 3 ,scene 2 “Cowards die many times before their deaths, but the valiant taste death but once.”
1. Have you ever been too afraid to do something, and wished that you had done it later. This is one of those many deaths.
a. Each time you quit believing for something because it got too serious, dragged out too long, ---- fear gets involved, and later you realize that you just died one of those many deaths, and missed a chance to prove yourself valiant.
b. How many times have we quit believing because it took too long or got too serious. Believing for yourself is one thing, but for others...relatives kids.
c. 2 Kings 6:5-7 Imagine if Elisha had been afraid of failure, and did not do this.
d. I Samuel 17:41-47 Imagine if David had been afraid and had not stood up to Goliath; everyone else was afraid and had ran off!
III. How you can conquer fear:
A. Find out what is causing it
1. open door? Everyone has different levels of tolerance for fear inducing movies, books, TV shows, etc. If you know that one of these is making you fearful, cut it out. Matt 18:9 “If your eye causes you to stumble, pluck it out...”
a. Replace the void with something or it will return with more like it. (NEED SCRIPTURE)
2. Maybe you have experienced a past failure when believing, or just are afraid that He won’t do what he said.
a. Trust God - believe that he will do what he said that he would. Jesus asked his disciples in Mark 4:40 “Why do you yet fear, do you have no faith?” This implies that having faith dissipates fear.
11. Put things in perspective:
aa. You should not fear for losing your “stuff.”
All of it is God’s anyway, and he has the final say over where it goes, who has it, and what happens to it. Like Job “naked I came, naked I’ll go.” bb. You shouldn’t fear anyone hurting your body, because your just going to go to heaven earlier--even if you’re killed. There is no reason to fear anyone by yourself and your own wickedness and unbelief. Matt 10:28
22. You do this by finding out what the scriptures say about your situation of just fear in general
33. Confess scriptures: When you are afraid, get out you confession scriptures and read the word to yourself about fear, and how it has no place in you. Fear and scripture will have a difficult time co-existing.
3. How far do you trust Him?
a. Of course, He deserves all trust, infinitely
b. But realistically, how far, how long do you believe before you get too afraid and go to the arm of the flesh or just give up? Author Stephen King had hundreds of rejection slips before he got his first story published. He now has 200 million copies of his books in print, 22 of which have been turned into movies. Lesson: keep believing. Don’t give up. Ever.
c. What if it doesn’t work? Who do you think put that thought in your mind? God? I had to get a shot for school and had to go to the school nurse and explain my beliefs to get out of it. After explaining my stand, she replied with “What if you break your leg? Would you go to the hospital then?” Of course, I replied, “ I won’t break my leg, so I’ll never know.”
