Introduction:  Some folks think that they know where I am going with this message.  They think that I am going to quote Psalms 56:3 ("What time I am afraid, I will trust in thee.") over and over again.  I plan to go much further than that.  Yes, we do need to memorize that verse and make it as much a part of normal thought process in dealing with fears.

  I mentioned in both of the other two messages that many people live in the realm of fear by playing the "what if" game with their minds. It ruins and rules the mind.  This robs the mind of the joy of the Lord. Nehemiah says that the joy of the Lord is my strength.  We all need strength to make it through this life.  Without the joy of the Lord, we will fall trap to fear and it will paralyze us into the same problems of those who are lost without God or His Son.

  There are many things that can cause fear.  Television and other media show us or tell us of bombings, wars, company closings and so forth.  If you ask the average person where he or she was when they saw the planes crash into the buildings on September the 11th 2001, they can tell you where they were and how they felt.  As Americans, our security in our country was robbed.  I will be honest to tell you that I felt fear that day.  For one thing, I knew that eventually we would be fighting a war on the people who did this terrorist act.  My son had only been in the Marine Corp for nine months.  I was afraid that he would be in that war.  Of course, time has borne that fact to truth.

  God gave us a nervous system that reacts to situations.  I bring us back to the four kinds of snakes.  You know the ones I am talking about- the dead ones, the ones on television, the ones behind thick glass cages and the ones in pictures.  Of course, dead ones are the best ones.  If I yelled snake and pointed to something in the floor, I probably could clear this room quickly.  It would probably not be women and children first in the lifeboats first either.

  Jesus dealt with the "what if" in his teaching in the Sermon of the Mount.                      Matthew 6:31-34

“Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?  (For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things.  But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.”

You are never out of His care and concern.  If you have a need, He delights in helping.           Matthew 7:7-11

"Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

When you live in the realm of "what if", you are living in the realm of tomorrow or some near future. God wants you to live in the realm of today.

  This message is to try to try to give you some tools to fight the battle of fear.  You may not have fear today but you will have it some time.  It may be sooner than you think. 

                                                2^nd Corinthians 10:4-5

“(For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds;) Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ; And having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience, when your obedience is fulfilled.”

  I said in the first message that fear's allies were sin and Satan.  Paul says this about Satan.        2^nd Corinthians 2:11

“Lest Satan should get an advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.”

If you know your enemy, you know how to defeat him.  This is not living in the realm of positive thinking.  Most of that is nothing less than hogwash anyway.  Norman Vincent Peale will not give these positives in his books.  I am positive that there is a devil.  I am positive that he wants to defeat folks.  I am positive that evil is lurking in many corners of the world.  I guess that is really negatives.  But I am positive that they exist.  I am positive that my Saviour is stronger than the enemy of every believer is.  I am positive He will help.    1^st John 4:4

“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.”

  Paul put a different slant on the subject. 

                           Philippians 4:7-8

“And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

      Jesus fits the bill for all the points Paul makes in verse eight.

Jesus is always true.     John 14:6

“Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”

  Jesus is always honest.  David was the bravest man in the Bible.  His bravery is not measured in his battle with Goliath or the bear or the lion.  It is measure in Psalm 139:23-24.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.”

      He asked God to search his heart.  He asked God to reveal his wickedness and lead him to the right way.  Now that is bravery.  Believe you me, if you want an honest assessment of your life, ask Jesus.  He will give you an honest answer.

  Jesus is just.  He was always and will always be pure, lovely and of a good report.  You will find no higher virtue than Jesus is.  You can give anyone else higher praise than Jesus can.  He is the one that we can focus our life.  That is not positive thinking- it is the real living.

  Today as I give you this final message on overcoming one of life's greatest obstacles, ask the Lord to reveal to you what you need to do to live on the higher plane of victorious Christian living instead of the realm of fear.

III.  FEAR’S ANTIDOTE

      A.  Identify your fears Romans 8:1, 28-29, 35-39

“There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”  “And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.” “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter. Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

      Romans chapter eight is one remarkable chapter.   In it we see that we have no condemnation.  That takes the fear of losing our salvation.  We see that in verse 1. Then in verse twenty-eight, we see that we don't have any consequences.  That should take away the fear of what is happening to us since it is for God's glory and our good.  Then in verses thirty-five through thirty-nine, we see that there is no separation.  That helps us realize that nothing and nothing can separate us from God.

   When identifying your fears and all of us have them, you must remember that negative fear does not come from the Lord. 

                        2^nd Timothy 1:7

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

      What are negative fears?  These are the fears that come from the "what ifs" that try to camp out in your mind.  This reminds me the old story about the camel and the tent.  One day a camel was outside of the tent of his master.  There was a sandstorm.  The camel asked his master if he could put his nose in the tent to keep the sand out.  His master agreed.  A little later, he asked if he could put his head in the tent because the sand was getting in his ears.  The master agreed.  It was not long before the camel was completely in the tent.  He came in by permission of his master.  The same goes for negative fear.  You invite it to come in. 

      Some people try to say that God gave them this defeated spirit of fear.  You can ask them to give you just one verse of scripture to support their claim.  They can not do so. He has given us the spirit of power, love and sound mind.  Those words "sound mind" means clear thinking.

      Once you have realized that this spirit of fear does not come from the Lord, then you can realize that you have taken the first step to overcoming fear.

      B.  Isolate your fear 1^st John 4:17-18

“Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.”

      You isolate them by realizing some things about love.    Let me give three thoughts along this line. 

             1. There is no fear in love.  That is a great statement found in this passage but when you couple this with verse eight, you see a truth that ought make your soul sing "How Great Thou Art".  What is in verse eight?  This statement is "for God is love."

            If we are in the love of God, then we don’t have a real reason to fear.  We have no condemnation.  We have a Shepherd that loves us.  We have strength that helps because He loves us.  He is my song in that He loves me.   He is my defense in that I can know He loves me.  How can I fear knowing that He is love and He loves me?

2. Trust perfect or mature love to cast out those fears.

      As we grow into a more intimate relationship with the Lord, our relationship grows more perfect and that is maturity.  Every event and affairs in life are absolutely and totally governed by the hands of a sovereign God.  His sovereignty is ruled by His love thus every thing works for His glory and our good.  So what do we fear?

      Perfect love can and does trust our perfect God to work out His perfect plan in our lives.     What lies ahead?   It is better that we don’t know because it would scare us to death.

             3. How can we know that we are resting in the Lord of God or not?  It is found in the fear.   When we fear we are not really resting in the love of God. 

                                           Philippians 4:7

                   “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

                               What should cause us to fear naturally will not cause us to fear because we know our God is in control. Psalm 56:3

                   “What time I am afraid, I trust in thee.”

      C.  Inoculate your fears Psalm 34:1-7

“I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make her boast in the LORD: the humble shall hear thereof, and be glad. O magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together. I sought the LORD, and he heard me, and delivered me from all my fears. They looked unto him, and were lightened: and their faces were not ashamed. This poor man cried, and the LORD heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles. The angel of the LORD encampeth round about them that fear him, and delivereth them.

                           Proverbs 18:10

“The name of the LORD is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe.”

      You probably know the word “inoculate” better by this words- getting a shot.  So how can you give your fears an inoculation?

1. Know that nothing separates you from the Love of God.  So why should we fear?

         The songwriter put it this way.

   “Isn’t the Love of Jesus something wonderful, wonderful, wonderful?  O isn’t the Love of Jesus wonderful? Wonderful to me”

2. Remember the proper kind of fear is the fear of the Lord.   

                           Proverbs 1:7

   “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction.”

               One of the greatest examples of these two truths is found in the account of the three Hebrew men in the face of the fiery furnace and Nebuchadnezzar.  These men did not bow or bent in the face of certain death.  I would probably right in says that most of us has never faced death in this way for our faith.  They were fearless in front of the king.  They knew that the Lord was in total control.  God blessed their faithfulness and courage for Him.  Their testimony of allowing God has been recorded for us to remember that the fear of the Lord is proper and that the Love of God will help us in our fears. 

Conclusion: In these messages I have tried to prepare you for the time that you may be afraid.  You may not be afraid today, but it will come.

      Some people are afraid that they will go to hell.  That is a good fear for those who have never trusted Christ as their Saviour.  You are not waiting for condemnation; you are living in the realm of condemnation already. John 3:18

“He that believeth on him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.”

You can have the help of the Lord with those things that should cause fear when you are saved.