Overcoming Fear │ Msg 14/14

0:01 As I begin this message I'm calling Overcoming Fear, I'd like to remind you of an account back in John chapter 6 when Jesus helped the disciples overcome fear by calming a great storm. Remember that? The disciples had piled into a boat to sail across the Sea of Galilee. The smooth evening waters were shattered by a fierce wind and merciless waves. The disciples rode furiously, but their desperate efforts proved futile, and ultimately they feared for their lives. Then they looked up. It was Jesus walking toward them. It is I, he said. Do not be afraid.

0:54 That's all it took to settle their fears. Suddenly the sea went slack and they found themselves safely on the other side at the shore. Perhaps Jesus took his disciples through that harrowing experience to prepare them to face an even fiercer storm the night he was arrested. This time Jesus would not come walking across the waves to rescue them. However, he promised to send the Holy Spirit to be with them always. When the Spirit came, they would never again face another storm alone. Jesus promises the same Spirit of peace to all of his followers. Allow me to read what Jesus says in John 14, 25-31.

1:50 I'll be reading from the New Living Translation, a very readable version of the Bible that I now use when I preach. Turn there with me, please. John 14, 25 to 31. Jesus says, I am telling you these things now while I am still with you. But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative, that is, the Holy Spirit, he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you. I am leaving you with a gift, peace of mind and heart. And the peace I give is a gift the world cannot give. So don't be troubled or afraid. Remember what I told you, I am going away, but I will come back to you again.

2:49 If you really loved me, you would be happy that I am going to the Father, who is greater than I am. I've told you these things before they happen, so that when they do happen, you will believe. I don't have much more time to talk to you, because the ruler of this world approaches. He has no power over me, but I will do what the Father requires of me so that the world will know that I love the Father. Come, let's be going. At 7 o'clock last Friday morning, I was having breakfast in a student cafeteria at the Florida Bible College. There were perhaps 400 or 500 other students in the same cafeteria that morning. but I'm convinced that sitting across the table from me was the most remarkable of the entire 1,300 student body. Let's call this young man Danny.

3:53 Danny was born with serious birth defects that affected not his mind but his body. As a matter of fact, if you could see his torso from the waist up, you could hardly notice any difference except for his arms. His right arm is terribly deformed and virtually useless. His left arm is very little more than a small section of arm and then a tiny hand that seems twisted and, again, without much use or power. But in that hand, he held his fork, he crooked his thumb over it on one end and curled his little finger around it on the other so that he was able to hold it and eat the eggs and toast and sausage as we were talking together. If you were to push this aluminum chair in which he will live the rest of his life back away from the table.

5:06 He will never walk. He will never know what we would call a normal life. Ah, but what a young man. Here he is, approaching the last years of his college education, anticipating with great delight seminary years ahead and perhaps even a Ph.D. course beyond that. With all the hope and excitement in the world, Danny and I talked about his past. Just briefly, I discovered that his number one difficulty in coping with life from the days as early as he could consciously be aware of his surroundings was the problem of fear, man's most ancient enemy. Fear of what people would say. Fear of the kids at school who spoke without mercy, as cruel kids tend to do. Fear of the rigors of the training. Fear Fear of failure.

6:10 Fear of just the problem of getting on in life. Fear of growing old as a victim of this terrible tragedy from a human point of view. Then he said to me, you know, there came a time when I trusted Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I heard the gospel and I realized that God loved me terribly unlovely as a person. He loved me when probably no woman will love me for the rest of my days as a husband. And I gave myself without reservation to Jesus Christ. I knew nothing more to do and needed to do nothing more than to believe. And I believed in Christ, the difference he's made.

7:11 As a matter of fact, if I could save a lot of time by simply saying that his goal in life is the very thing you would never expect, and that is to have a writing ministry. He's already begun to publish some tracts and some booklets of his are going into print before long. He hopes to get into the whole main line of Christian writing. Keen mind. But that old problem with fear, sound familiar to some of you? And yet we, with so much more going for us, the same Savior, same world, same realm of potential,

7:58 frequently, if not often, succumb to fear. It's nothing new, frankly. Genesis chapter 3 tells us that fear is the oldest result of sin. If you'll look with me into the sixth verse, you will see when sin reared its ugly head and the results of it in verses 8 through 10. Genesis 3 is the account of the fall of man. And when man fell under the pollution of sin in his bloodstream, in his nature, he suffered the results of fear. Notice the woman mentioned in verse 6 is Eve. The scene is the Garden of Eden.

8:52 The woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes and that the tree was desirable to make one wise. She took from its fruit and ate. There's the first occurrence of sin among man. She ate of the fruit. She gave to her husband and he with her ate. There's another occurrence. At this juncture, sin has come. Drop down to verse 8. They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day. And the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. The Lord God called to the man and said to him, Where are you? As if to say, Why are you where you are, Adam?

9:49 God wasn't really in need of knowing where he was. He wanted Adam to realize why he was there. Where are you, Adam? And now Adam's response is of interest to us. He said, I heard the sound of thee in the garden. Now notice the first reference in all of time. I was afraid. There you have it.

10:16 Sin came and on its heels came fear. Adam said, Up till now we've known a harmony, but now I'm afraid. And it even goes on to say, I was naked and I hid myself. Man not only is succumbing to fear, we also are engaged in the constant activity of covering it up, hiding ourselves, hiding it from others. Stop and think about that. There are phobias more than we could name this morning. Fear of depths.

11:10 Fear of crowds. Fear of what people will say. Fear of loss of job. Fear of a job itself. Fear of people. Fear of authority. Fear of the dentist. Fear of the doctor. Fear of a doctor's exam. Fear of disease. Cancer. Fear of death. I have a friend named Ronald who was working his way through college. He had a terrible fear of heights, but he needed the best paying job he could find. So he got a job with a construction company and he prayed that it would not be his experience to have to go up very high to work in this construction company. And that worked for a month. God had other plans the second month that summer. The fellow ahead of him lost his job. He frankly was injured on it. And Ronald was given the job. They were building a hospital addition.

12:08 It was already five stories high and they were adding nine more. And they needed somebody on the top structure to set up the structural framework so the welders could put it in place. Can you imagine? Dear friend of mine was so scared. He was absolutely speechless. He worked three or four days and finally the foreman watched this guy just suffering terribly and he said, what's the matter with you, kid? You afraid? Ron answered back, afraid? I've been trying to tell you for four days. I quit. We hide it. We don't want anybody to know it. We don't want to talk about it. Or we cover it up with superstition, like the lady next to me on the plane as we were landing in Fort Lauderdale. A little tiny spoon that she wrapped around her finger, and she said it kept her from being afraid when they landed the planes and when they took off.

13:06 Doesn't make sense, does it? Neither does silence. The most foolish thing in the world is our superstition, but many are engaged in keeping up the same age-old pattern to cover up our fears. The disciples were afraid. That's what chapter 14 is all about, frankly. It all hinges upon what Jesus had said in chapter 13. And they were so hung up on that statement that Jesus dedicated the first part of his upper room discourse to quietening their hearts, to taking away their fears. John chapter 13, verse 33, gives us Jesus' comment. that started it all off. 1333, little children, I'm with you a little while longer. Meaning what?

13:59 Meaning I'm going to die. I'm going to the cross. And then he added to that statement, you will seek me and as I said to the Jews, where I am going, you cannot come. Now I say to you, not only am I leaving, that's bad enough for them to hear, but you cannot go." And that was the worst thing they could have heard. In their eyes, they were being deserted. So the confusion of how they would get on in life, what they would do without the catalyst of encouragement and guidance and instruction, what they would do in a world that was hostile to the claims that they had been declaring. They were confused and therefore fearful. Now, Jesus spoke of their troubled hearts in the first 24 verses of chapter 14. Begins with, Let not your heart be troubled. And then he spoke of fearful hearts in verses 25 through 31. As he says in that key phrase at the end of verse 27, Don't let your hearts be troubled, neither let them be fearful. I don't want you to succumb to this fear.

15:23 And in order to help them overcome the fear, he left them, and I want to suggest indirectly, he left us with some guidelines on how to overcome fear. Verses 25 through 31, we have four guidelines are helpful hints in overcoming fear. Now let me be very accurate and specific with the text and say these were first spoken to the disciples and they therefore relate directly to those 11 men who were to become the apostles of the church. However, indirectly they apply beautifully to every generation. The first guideline is depend upon the person of the Holy Spirit. That would be verses 25 and 26.

16:21 These things I have spoken to you while abiding with you. But he's leaving, see, he's no longer going to be abiding. And so someone will take his place. Verse 26 tells us who that will be. but the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name or in my place. He will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. It's a wonderful promise.

16:59 Men, you are not going to be alone. You won't have me here in the flesh, but the faithful Father, the Father God of heaven, will send in my place the Holy Spirit. And you can depend on Him. That's implied.

17:23 Now specifically, the disciples would receive the Spirit at Pentecost. By application, believers today receive the Spirit of God at salvation. You need never pray, God, send your spirit. Many hymns are written with that same request. Send your spirit. I'm sure the writer occasionally means, bring him upon us in filling power. But the idea of sending the Spirit is erroneous. It's confusing.

18:01 From Pentecost on, the Spirit of God has found residence in the believer in Jesus Christ at salvation. You have the Spirit. The need is not to have the Spirit, but to depend upon the Spirit you have within you. When you find fear surrounding you, men, says Jesus, draw upon the power of the abiding Holy Spirit. Now, when you look at verse 26, two things are told us that the Spirit will do. Don't miss either one. First, when the Helper comes, He will teach you all things.

18:54 One of the first works of the Holy Spirit in you, child of God, is to instruct. He will teach you all things. Now notice something that is often missed. the Spirit of God will also remind you of the truth you have learned. He will bring it to your remembrance. Isn't that terrific? Isn't that exciting? The disciples learned truth at Jesus' feet. Jesus left them at the ascension. They never saw him again in visible form. Nor will we ever until he comes for us. But in that interim period while he is away, before he returns, his spirit rests within his children to instruct and to remind the truth that has been instructed.

20:01 You stop and think about that. Spirit of God, during a worship service such as this, or a Sunday school class, And I hope you are engaged in the Sunday school ministry where in smaller groups you can wrestle with and reckon with truth as it comes from gifted teachers ignited by the Spirit of God. God teaches you something in those sessions. You learn that truth. It gets embedded in your head. and then during the week to come, Thursday, Friday, you're miles away from here but suddenly you're in need of a reminder. Maybe you're in a predicament. It's altogether unplanned. You're there.

20:55 And the truth that you've picked up in a worship service or a teaching session on a Sunday suddenly is prompted back in your mind. A sparked thought fires away. You know who does that? The Spirit of God. It isn't just a good memory. People with great memories seem to have great struggles with handling the Word of God occasionally. I had a mental block just last Thursday. Wednesday night I was speaking at a church and I wanted a particular verse, a couple of verses of scripture in Peter. And for the life of me, I could not think of what they were. And finally I looked around at the pastor and I said, where is that found?

21:53 And for the life of him, he could not remember either. I felt badly for him. And then someone prompted it from the congregation. Now that happens. How marvelous an experience it is when you're all alone and you're in this situation. Suddenly you get just the truth you need. And it just calms the waters. That's the work of the Holy Spirit. When you are given to fear, you are forgetting the truth of God. And the Spirit of God puts the ammunition right where it's needed and fires it right into the head so that we take that truth and we use that truth in that fearful moment.

22:42 One thing that always seems to accompany a Christian when he goes to the hospital is his Bible. The most common scene in the world is a God's book. Why? Because in the fearful experiences of a hospital time, nothing like the truth, nothing like the Spirit's reminder, just to cement purpose and meaning in that moment. Depend upon the Holy Spirit. He is as real as the Father. He is as real and dependable as the Son of God. He's there to give that kind of calming effect. Now there's a second. There's a second piece of helpful information here. Verse 27. Claim the peace of Jesus Christ. That's second.

23:39 Not your own peace that you work up. Not peace from circumstances. But claim the peace of Jesus Christ. 27. Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. let not your heart be troubled nor let it be fearful. I want to suggest that Jesus left these disciples a legacy and a treasure.

24:16 First, a legacy, peace I leave with you. A treasure, my peace I give to you. Jesus was facing death, but he had such peace in it. He said, men, when I am gone away from this earth, my peace is yours to claim. The very peace that you see in me right now. Look at 1633.

24:52 Chapter 16, the last verse. These things I have spoken to you that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage. I've overcome the world. I smile when I read that verse because the Spirit of God just reminded me of that verse while I was talking on another verse. and I just realized I lived out the very truth that I just shared with you a while ago. I hadn't planned to say it, and I hadn't even mentioned it in the other two services, but there's an example. He reminded me of a truth located very near what we were just seeing. Look at what Jesus says. In the world you will have tribulation, but take courage in my peace. I've overcome the world.

25:46 That's why he says over in chapter 14, I don't give the peace that the world gives. The world doesn't have a peace to give. All it has is a transfer of one moment of panic to another. Like the Wizard of Oz, Judy Garland sang, somewhere over the rainbow, bluebirds fly somewhere over the rainbow. Why then, oh, why can't I where troubles melt like lemon drops? That's where you'll find me. And she took her life, didn't she? She didn't find trouble melting like lemon drops. Because there is no peace, says my God. There's just a transfer of location. Take a trip.

26:39 Get away for a while. try this drink or how about this scene oh you haven't lived till you've worked on this one that's the counsel of the wicked they haven't got anything to offer because they haven't got any peace all they can do is transfer that moment of panic and put it off to a later moment Jesus says when you claim the peace I've got you depend upon my spirit you can know how to face whatever comes because I've got peace to offer. If you're noting these things, you might put in the margin of your Bible a very helpful parallel passage. Isaiah 57, 20 and 21. And we'll go on.

27:32 That says that the peace that the world has is like the troubled sea when it cannot rest. Isaiah 57, 20 and 21. Let's go to the third. Right here in this passage, verse 28, along with the following verse, gives us the third condition. Remember the first two, depend upon the Holy Spirit. He's a person, you can depend upon him. Claim the peace of Jesus Christ. Third, accept the plan of the future.

28:09 God's plan. He has a prophetic plan that will bring peace. 28. You heard that I said to you, I go away and I will come to you. Please notice those two statements. Put together, they are the plan of God. I go away. I will come to you. Then he says, if you loved me, if you really had your eyes on me, if you really accepted me and this plan of the Father, you would have rejoiced because I go to the Father and he's greater than I. and now I have told you before it comes to pass before what comes to pass before I leave for the spirit of God comes before I return I lay all of this before you so that when it does come to pass you may believe will you notice something that is easily overlooked that when it comes to pass not if not if The Father's plan is not an if plan, it's a when plan.

29:31 Isn't that beautiful? The arrangement that the Father has laid out for the events of the future are as clearly defined as the arrangements of history that we can read in the books. It is impossible to really accept the plan of the future and to stay pessimistic.

29:59 Impossible. Now you won't dance and waltz your way all the way through these end times, but I'll tell you, every time you read another section of the LA Times and you read another murder, another rape, another scene of disaster, you will have the spirit of God tap you on the heart and say it's just as he predicted in the last days perilous times will come you may not even smile but in your heart will be that settled peace that nod of agreement he knows what he's doing and all the powers of man will not change his arrangement. Had they really accepted it, they would have been rejoicing. It's just a carrying out of the plan of prophecy.

30:55 Now I ask a very direct question to you that are here. You that are Christians, when's the last time you took a very direct look at God's prophetic plan? I mean a serious investigation of what his arrangement is on this earth from now till the end. You say, can you know? Oh, that's one of the great benefits of God's word. His word spells it out and you can see it. A couple or three good volumes you should get a hold up to help you see the plan of God in the future. You can't remain long-faced as long as you're really plugged into his prophetic plan. Speaking of that, I want to add that every waking moment you can have your eyes, your focus in one of five different areas.

31:59 Listen to them. You can focus on yourself. You will either become discouraged or conceited. If you're in the blahs, you'll be discouraged. If you're having a high day, you're liable to feel smug. Second, you can have your eyes on your circumstances. Quickest way I know of to be depressed is to get locked into your circumstances. It's the way the Hebrews lived and the key word is they grumbled, they griped because they focused on their circumstances. Third, you can focus your attention on things, getting things, possessions. And that's a dead end street, you know it before it's even amplified. Fourth, you can focus on other people.

32:54 You will become disillusioned because they'll let you down. Or you'll become idol makers as they're in their prima donna era, really counting. And they're going to fall, you're going to be disillusioned. Or fifth, you can focus on the Lord. Jesus said to these disciples, if you had really known the Father's plan and focused on him. Would have had a praise gathering for believers up here in the upper room, man. But that's not where your focus is. If your focus is on yourself, your circumstances, your things, or others, Christians, you will not know peace. It's got to be on the Lord. that brings us to our fourth follow the pattern of obedience that's the fourth piece of advice Jesus leaves to us in verse 30 and verse 31 I will not speak much more with you for the ruler of the world is coming that's Satan now that could have reference either to the coming of Judas who was indwelt by Satan or the whole satanic scene where he wanted so much to gain victory over the cross.

34:15 He could not. Jesus says he has nothing to me. He is not in this scene. He has nothing in me. But that the world may know that I love the Father as the Father gave me commandment, even so I do. There you have it. That's obedience. As the Father gave me commandment, I do.

34:41 The world will know that. I love the Father. They bother to make an investigation. The Father's plan was this for me, and I'm carrying it out. Persisting in obedience. Look at verse 31, will you? Look at the last part of the verse. as the Father gave me commandment. It's another word for as he gave me his word, I do.

35:16 Now look up here. That's the Father's commandment. His word. That's what the Father would have you know. More than that, that's what the Father would have you do. First of all, are you coming to know His Word, child of God? It's not related to are you coming to church. That's a wonderful byproduct of being in the family of God and walking in dependence upon Him. You need times of worship. But you're following the pattern of obedience? You will never know peace in a life of disobedience. I could easily say the most miserable souls on earth today are children of God not walking with God.

36:15 The most miserable people you will ever have to deal with. They're not even under the wrath of God, but they're living as though they are. The discipline of God meting out upon their lives because they're walking against the pattern of obedience. Now that's self-explanatory. I assume children of God that have heard this message that you have the Spirit of God upon whom you wish to depend. You have the peace of Jesus Christ you wish to claim. You're into the plan of the future. You want to accept that. It falls back on the matter of doing what you know the scriptures say to do, following the pattern of obedience.

37:12 Now if you're like me, you might be even more pragmatic. You'd like to know, what do I do to make this stick? How can I make fear obsolete once for all? How can I put it out of my experience? The word obsolete means no longer in use. How can I hang fear on the shelf and go right on from now to the end of my time without it as a companion? I want to give you four very simple words of advice. They work for me. Perhaps they will be helpful for you. A, B, C, and D. Let's let them start with those four letters. A. Acknowledge your source of power. You already have power. Acknowledge your source of power. That's the Holy Spirit. You acknowledge it by depending upon Him when you come to those moments when you would ordinarily fear.

38:11 Tell the Holy Spirit right now you're depending on Him to get you through that situation. Acknowledge. Second, begin your day with prayer. Not a memorized prayer. You know that I'm not referring to that. I'm talking about communication with God. You know that unless I am sick or some emergency has gotten me up earlier than usual, every day of my life I begin in this fashion. I wake up by His grace and I get my glasses and I put them on. So I'm sure I know where I am. I sit up and I put my feet on the floor right next to bed and I sit there my hands on both sides of my body and I look out the window that looks over Fullerton. I say, Lord, this is your day. It's not mine. Now say something like, I am in your care, available to do as you wish.

39:15 Please use my life for your glory today. I claim your presence. I claim your peace. Such words as that. I may sit there two minutes and I may sit there ten minutes. But I began the day touching base. first of all, with my heavenly father in prayer. It's a tremendous source of power and peace. Third, correct your habit of pessimism. One way to do that would be to become a student of the prophetic word.

39:54 I say again, it is virtually impossible to know the future of God's plan and to stay pessimistic today. It'll keep you optimistic. Even when every rug seems to come out from under you, correct the habit of pessimism. There's a fourth.

40:15 Devote yourself to persistence. Devote yourself to persistence. Break a habit. If you want to break an age-old habit that you've fallen into, it will take persistence as the Spirit of God gives you that kind of discipline. I left Danny's presence about quarter to eight to go back to my room and when I did, I committed myself afresh and anew to God as if for the first time because I had been moved by this young man's words. But on my journey back up to my room, I walked by an office where I saw a little sheet of paper and on it were written words that this secretary was getting ready to frame and put up in the room of her boss there at the school. I looked it over and said, would you make me a copy of that? It ties in beautifully with what I want to say on Sunday. It relates to persistence. It says, press on. Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.

41:34 Talent will not. Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not. Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education alone will not. The world is full of educated derelicts. persistence and determination are omnipotent. I don't quibble over the last term. We know the only omnipotent one is God, and I think it fits perfectly into the Christian's life. When the omnipotent God gets a hold of a soul that is persisting, determined, disciplined to overcome this life of fear. It's remarkable how that life can be turned around. As a matter of fact, there's only one group of people here that has a right to be fearful.

42:40 You that don't know the Lord. Donald Barnhouse used to close many of his services with a prayer something like this, Lord, dismiss us with your peace, except for those who don't know you, and keep them miserable. until they come to know the Prince of Peace.

43:10 I don't think there's a person under the sound of my voice today who would not want to overcome fear. You're very sick if you have any other feeling. So we've struck a universal note, but some of you just simply will never be able to do it in your present condition. Jesus tells his children in the words of Paul, I haven't given you the spirit of fear.

43:46 He even tells us through John's words that his perfect love casts out fear. But the way of the transgressor is hard. Some of you this day are given to a life of disobedience. Actually, you've never known the Lord Jesus Christ.

44:13 You've never really known peace. Peace begins at the cross. That's where he won our peace. Peace begins with being reconciled to God through the death of his son. you can come to terms with this, this very moment.

44:41 God offers you the gift just like he offered it to Danny. All you've got to do is receive it. You've got to believe that Jesus Christ died for you and rose from the dead for you, and you will be saved. delivered from fear, insecurity, secure in a destiny that's the most optimistic, beautiful plan.