Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20040201.htm

SAMPLING GOD'S "FEAR NOTS"
Part V: God's Solution To Fears Faced In Doing His Will

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

Most of the time, most of us believers in Christ know God's will for a specific path in life; however, taking that path may be what is difficult for us as something we FEAR might lie in that PATH:

(1) I experienced this challenge this week! As I typed up this message last Tuesday, my computer "mouse" started to act strangely! The cursor would move sideways, but not very well vertically.

This problem usually means there is lint in the mechanism or the rubber ball is soiled, so I took out the ball and rubbed it clean, being careful to blow out any lint that might be caught in the chamber.

However, when I tried cleaning this way, the cursor problem not only die not go away, but after several tries, it got worse and eventually the cursor would not move vertically at all! That had never before happened!

I admit I found myself getting anxious: besides not knowing anything about replacing or repairing the "mouse," it was Tuesday, and a big snow storm was predicted that might hinder me from getting to the office on Wednesday! I thus wondered how I was supposed to get my messages for the week ready and how our Church Secretary was going to use the computer to prepare the weekly bulletin!

This was not a question of doing or not doing God's WILL: God has made it clear for decades that He wants me to invest my life in churning out Bible messages for His flock. However, what was I to do about this anxiety of being UNABLE to achieve that assignment simply because the "mouse" wouldn't work?

(2) I was also concerned about our need for heating oil at the Church. I wanted to get out to the shed see how much oil we had in the storage tank so I could call our supplier in time to keep the furnaces going. Though we are on automatic feed, the supplier was not that aware of how quickly we needed refills, for I had previously called the company just in time to refill our tanks. Thus, I had to address that need then as the snow storm could land us with frozen water pipes if we ran out and I was away from the office all Wednesday!

Well, IF we KNOW what God wants us to DO in a specific realm of our lives, but something we FEAR lies in the PATH of God's WILL, HOW are we to RESPOND in an edifying way?

(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )

Need: "I KNOW the PATH God wants me to take in life, but I dread the HARM I see in that PATH! What may I DO about my FEAR?!"
  1. God equipped Paul to HURDLE the FEAR of PHYSICAL HARDSHIPS he faced so he could do God's will and reach Rome:
    1. God told Paul to "Be of good cheer" after he was rescued by Roman soldiers from nearly being bodily torn apart in the sanhedrin: God said Paul would survive such events to testify at Rome, Acts 23:1-10, 11.
    2. God repeated this encouragement when Paul was caught in a horrible storm on a ship in the Mediterranean: God's angel told him to "Fear not," that he would appear before Caesar, Acts 27:18-20,23-24. Thus, God repeatedly protected Paul from harm so he could reach Rome:
      1. As the ship started to break up, afraid they would be executed if their prisoners escaped (Bible Knowledge Com. N.T., p. 428), the Roman soldiers wanted to kill Paul and the other prisoners, Acts 27:42; Yet, God led the centurion uncharacteristically to keep his men from killing the prisoners, thus sparing Paul's life, 27:43.
      2. When the centurion told all 276 people on board to leave the ship as it was being beaten apart by the waves and to swim to shore or float on debris, Paul was again spared from any injury: he and all 276 people on board not only made it to land, but did so safely with no one even being injured, Acts 27:44, 34; Ibid., p. 428.
      3. After Paul was on shore and a poisonous viper bit him, Paul was kept unharmed by God so he could go to Rome, Acts 28:1-5, 16.
  2. God equipped believers to HURDLE fears of PAINFUL HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS so they could complete God's will for them:
    1. As Paul evangelized at Corinth, he became so distressed he nearly had a nervous breakdown, 1 Cor. 2:1-4. Christ encouraged him to "Be not afraid," to keep on witnessing as God wanted him to reach many there, Acts 18:9-10; he thus taught there another 18 months, 18:11.
    2. Moses once feared Og, the king of Bashan who came up to attack him after he had led Israel to defeat Sihon of Heshbon, Num. 21:23-33.
    3. Yet, God told Moses to "Fear him not," for God would give Moses victory over king Og of Bashan, Numbers 21:34. Hence, Moses led Israel to destroy all of the forces of Og, king of Bashan, Num. 21:35.
  3. God equipped believers to HURDLE the FEAR of a PAINFUL FUTURE RELATIONSHIP with GOD:
    1. God led Gideon to overcome his fear that he would be slain by God:
      1. When Gideon realized he had spoken with the Lord Who appeared to him in bodily form, knowing no one could see God in His glory and live, Gideon feared he might die, Judg. 6:20-22; Exodus 33:20.
      2. Yet, the Lord encouraged Gideon, telling him to "fear not" that he would die; God had met Gideon this way in view of his need for encouragement from God to defeat the Midianites, Judges 6:12-16.
    2. God led Peter to hurdle his fear of a difficult future with Jesus:
      1. When Jesus told Peter to move his boat into deep water to catch fish, Peter explained that since he had caught nothing from working all night long, he would heed Jesus' words only because Peter respected His order as a teacher in Israel, Luke 5:3-5.
      2. After heeding Jesus, Peter and his associates were shocked to gain a huge catch of fish, Luke 5:6-7, 9-10a. Realizing he had grossly underestimated Jesus, Peter fell at His knees, urging Christ to leave him as he was sinful in not having fully respected Jesus, 5:7-10a.
      3. However, Jesus encouraged Peter, telling him to "Fear not;" Peter would catch men under His discipling leadership, Luke 5:10b.
      4. Peter thus was encouraged by the Lord and His grace, and left fishing to follow Jesus as His willing servant, Luke 5:11.
    3. Christ led the Apostle John to quell his fear of harm upon seeing Jesus in all His great, symbolized glory as God, Priest and Judge of John:
      1. When John was banished to the Isle of Patmos for his testimony for Christ (Rev. 1:9), he saw the (symbolic) glory of Christ's deity and sovereign authority as priest and judge over the Church, and fell at His feet as dead, 1:10-17; Ryrie Study Bib., KJV, ftn. to Rev. 1:13.
      2. Jesus encouraged John to "Fear not," that since He had conquered death and risen from the dead, Christ would use his infinite power and authority to equip John to minister to the Church in spite of his captivity, and that by writing the Revelation, Revelation 1:17-18.
      3. John thus completed the invaluable book of Revelation for us!
Application: To respond well to FEAR in doing God's will, (1) first ALIGN with God's WILL by trusting in Christ as Savior from sin, Acts 17:30; Jn. 3:16. (2) Then, OBEY His WORD as to how to live for God, 1 John 2:3-6. (3) Then, realize if we HEED God's WILL in His assignment on a matter, what we FEAR can not HARM our FULFILLING God's WILL in it; thus, FOCUS on God's ASSIGNMENT and let HIM deal with what we FEAR!

Lesson: No matter WHAT they FEARED, God's servants down through Biblical history were ENCOURAGED by God to KEEP DOING His WILL as GOD would ALWAYS SUPPLY THEM ROOM to FULFILL HIS ASSIGNMENT FOR them REGARDLESS WHAT they FEARED!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 At the start of this message, I shared about the challenge I had with the computer "mouse;" the cursor would move sideways, but eventually it did not move at all in a vertical direction. That made me anxious!

You recall I was also concerned about getting the time to view the tank gauge lest we ran out of oil during the "nor-easter" that was predicted to arrive later that Tuesday!

I suddenly realized the Lord was guiding me in a workshop of having to apply the very message I was composing, a message that was taken from notes I had made fourteen years ago on "Sampling God's Fear Nots.'" I immediately confessed in prayer to the Lord my lack of heeding the message I was writing, and started to apply it by doing what I could to achieve God's will regardless of what seemed to be an impossible obstacle!

(1) In the process, I found the cursor could be moved on the page by punching the four-directional arrow keys on the keyboard. That gave me some room to work on the message without the "mouse."

(I later called a local store that carried computer parts and found I could replace the mouse I was using for under $20.00. When I bought the new "mouse," it worked wonderfully, virtually letting the cursor leap up-and-down and sideways!)

(2) While I was working the cursor with the arrow keys, the supplier's oil truck arrived on its own and began filling our oil tanks!

Thus, absolutely everything that had been weighing on my mind was addressed Tuesday afternoon, so all I had to do was finish typing up these introduction and conclusion notes that testified of God's involvement in applying the message I was to give for you!



Whether we face fears of PHYSICAL harm, fears of painful PEOPLE RELATIONSHIPS, fear of pain in relating to the LORD HIMSELF, or any OTHER anxiety in DOING GOD'S ASSIGNMENT, our FOCUS needs to shift from WHAT we FEAR to the WILL of GOD ITSELF, for it is GOD'S business to enable us to ACHIEVE what HE has CALLED us to DO for Him!

May we learn to shift our gaze from what we FEAR to GOD'S WILL ITSELF. GOD will then handle all we face, including our fears, so that we can ACHIEVE His WILL!