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 Fear...The greatest enemy of the Church today.

Fear, The Greatest Enemy of the Church


In Chapter 3 of Job, we see Job overcome with grief. He is overwhelmed with the circumstances of life and we might say, "who could blame him?". He has lost all his children, all of his possessions, he has lost his health, in short, he has lost everything. He is so dismayed that he cries out to God, mourning the day that he was born, wishing that he had died at birth, wishing he had been stillborn. While many of us may never sink as low as Job, many of us can identify with certain aspects of Job's situation.

There are Christians who have lost children, there are Christians who have lost every penny they had, there are Christians who have devastating illnesses, all of the these afflictions are frequently seen in the church and it is common to men for we live in a dying and corrupt world and Christians are part of that world. Those who claim that these things happen because of a lack of faith or sin, are simply ignorant of the Scriptures and actually operate in fear, not faith. Yes, sickness is a result of sin, the sin of Adam. While we as Christians dwell within the corruptible flesh(we will be raised in incorruption on that glorious day) we will suffer and we will die just like all men. To take the, “name it and claim it,” nonsense to its logical conclusion, then we, as Christians would not physically die. The fact is, if you are over a certain age, then you are dying, all we as adults are dying right now.

The certain truth is this, bad things happen to Christians. We will have trials and tribulations, this is promised to us. If you were a first century Christian, then very bad things were going to happen. As we know, most of the original followers of Jesus were badly abused, tortured and killed. What was their problem? Bad confession? Lack of faith? Secret sin in their life? What nonsense. These were glorious saints who, because of their walk, because of their faith, because of the danger they represented to the enemy and his kingdom, came in for special attention. As it was then, so it is now.

Would anyone argue that the Apostle Paul, author of two-thirds of the New Testament, was a man lacking in faith, walking in fear? Yet, we know his life, how he was shipwrecked, how he was often flogged, how he was often impoverished and had to go hungry. And despite all of that, he had discovered what true faith was all about, he had discovered that the opposite of fear was faith, and he had overcame it and was able to be content in any situation.

Job says in 3:25, 26 "For the thing I greatly feared has come upon me, And what I dreaded has happened to me. I am not at ease, nor am I quiet, I have no rest for trouble comes."
We see here, that while we know that Job was a Godly man prior to his trials, that he had things that he greatly feared and dreaded. Fear is the enemy to all Christians, not the circumstances of life. The reason for this is because circumstances are mostly out of our control, yet fear is a choice. To live in fear is to deny God in your life. Notice that I did not say that to, “ fear is to deny God,” but to, “live in fear.” Look at the difference between Paul and Job. Because of Job's fear and then circumstances he was not "at ease, nor am I quiet, I have no rest," as opposed to Paul who had learned to be content in every situation.


Just in case you think I am being to hard on Job, chapter 3 is not the conclusion to his story, praise God. Perhaps you are living in chapter three yourself right now, or know someone who is. Someone who wishes they were never born, someone who has sore trials that has come upon them and are really struggling. Job actually makes the greatest confession of faith in all the Scriptures, "Even if He slays me, yet will I trust in Him." What a remarkable turnaround. Job has had a revelation of God. God shows Job that He is maker of the universe, that he laid the foundations of the earth. God is revealing Himself to Job and Job is getting a handle on the God that he serves, despite his circumstances. But, the central fact is this, Job is communicating with God.

Therein lies the key, the secret which is no secret. Relationship with Jesus, walking in His presence, talking to God, genuine communication is the key to an overcoming attitude. Not one of us will overcome the slightest trial in our lives outside of the presence of God. If fear is the opposite of faith, if we live in fear, how can we walk in the presence of God? Are you tired of living in fear? Lets call fear what it is, it is a lack of trust in God. Trust is the foundation of any relationship, trust and commitment. How can we be committed to a God in whom we do not trust? When we do not trust Him, then we are calling Him a liar. If we step outside of trusting Him, then we begin to run our own lives, making our own decisions. When a Christian makes a decision, based on fear, disaster inevitably follows.


Is your trust based on circumstances? Do you sleep well at night because you have a lot of money in the bank? It’s not particularly hard for a man of means to say that He trusts God in the area of finance, that's not to say he does not, yet only circumstances of trial truly expose the man of trust. Only when the storm comes, and the man of God is still standing after it do we truly know that his foundation is Christ.

When we humble ourselves, when we acknowledge our fears, not deny them like the, “name it and claimers,” when we draw close to Jesus and make a conscious decision to turn it over to Him, only then can we overcome it. Yes Lord, I have a disease, one that may even kill me, but I am turning it over to you, you will be my peace because I trust you, my life is in your hands. Compare that attitude with the so called "faith," movement who would deny that they even have a disease, and make no mistake about it, they do that out of fear, not faith. This is true irony.

The truth is that we walk in victory despite our circumstances. No matter what happens to us in this life, no matter what we lose, be it our health, our wealth, people close to us, loved ones, we can lose all these things but we cannot lose God. This is where our peace and our joy comes from, not from circumstances, but from trust, commitment, the very foundations of our relationship with Jesus. Staying close to Him. For when we walk in His presence, when we refuse to let circumstances cause fear and rob us of our peace, then we hear God speak.

That small still voice will guide us through everything in life. As long as you operate in fear, you will quench this voice, the very voice that may say," today I will heal you, today I will restore you on this earth, today I will prosper you, today I will use you, or, today I am taking you home." He is the author and finisher of our faith, not circumstances.

I urge you brothers and sisters, the next challenge that comes your way, and believe me, it is coming, determine in your heart to expel fear and anxiety from your heart. Determine in your heart that you will believe the report of the Lord, you will rest upon His promises. This is not a feeling that will come over you, it starts with a conscious decision to trust God. Lets begin to be different from the world. If you get a bad report from the doctor, rejoice in the fact that your life is in God's hand and that it will be Him that determines the outcome of your life or the life of your loved one. Rest in that, not that you have a predetermined view of healing, but simply rest in trust, not fear. Trust, or faith is the substance of things not seen. It is when we do not know the outcome, but trust anyway that we exemplify what true faith is.

Psalm 3.......Lord, how they have increased who trouble me. Many are they who rise up against me. Many are they who say of me "There is no help for him in God," selah. But you oh Lord are a shield for me. My glory and the One who lifts my head. I cried to the Lord with my voice and He heard me from His holy hill. I lay down and slept, I awoke for the Lord sustained me. I will not be afraid of ten thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around. Arise O Lord , save me O my God, for you have struck all my enemies on the cheekbone, you have broken the teeth of the ungodly. Salvation belongs to the Lord. Your blessing is upon your people.

 2006/3/30 21:23
brentw
Member



Joined: 2005/12/14
Posts: 440
Ohio

 Re: Fear...The greatest enemy of the Church today.

Brother I'm with you! I think of worry also when thinking of fear...
Satan has come hard at me with fear & worry lately....thanks for this post. I feel like a worm and of no man....
Please pray for me to overcome!


_________________
Brent

 2006/3/30 22:45Profile









 Re:

Hi Brent
Well your certainly no worm brother. All who are in Christ are priests in a royal priesthood. The enemy of our soul will do everything to convince us that we are nothing. The scripture in Phillipians that says "Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer, supplication and thanksgiving make your request known to God and the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus," has radically changed my walk. The Lord laid it on my heart about two years ago, and I could not get away from it. Time and again, tens of times, perhaps hundreds, all the different fears that were in me, came up(not pleasant at all) and were dealt with, starting with the concious descision to obey, an act of the will, and where the will leads, the emmotions follow. My life is no longer a rollercoaster ride, I believe, because I recognized my fears as sin and God wanted to free me , as He certainly wants to free you brother. Yield to the process brother, allow yourself to be changed in the furnace of your situations, so that this fire of your cicumstances would be a refiners fire, burning all the impurities out of us, and not a fire of the enemies making, designed to destroy us. Take heart brother, even when we fall for the schemes of the enemy, the Lord will make beauty from the ashes of our lives. Dear Father in heaven, I just lay my brother before you this night, in the beauty of your holiness, and I pray for victory in the midst of his situation, for you have prepared a table before us in the presence of our enemies. Let him feast upon the past victories, let him look back and see all that you have brought him through, and as he does, may his spirit begin to rise and the head that hangs low, may it be lifted, for you are the lifter of our heads, you say to us , why so downcast oh my soul, lift up your head and see where your help comes from, it comes the Lord, maker of heaven and earth. Praise your name Jesus, and may Brent hear the cloud of witnesses cheering him on this night in the arena of his walk, the heroes of faith are urging him to get up, get up,and may all those who have waited upon the Lord, renew their strength and mount up with wings like eagles, wearyness must flee in the presence of the Lord............In Jesus name ......Amen

 2006/3/30 23:38
Logic
Member



Joined: 2005/7/17
Posts: 1791


 Re: Fear...The greatest enemy of the Church today.

I would say that it all depends on what church you attend. The seven Churches in revelations all had diferent enimies. One was luke warmness, the other lost 1st love. The Church in America is complacency. I don't think you can tag one enemy on the Whole entire church of God accept Satan himself.

 2006/3/30 23:48Profile









 Re:

Hi Logic
There are many problems, obviously, and I was not just talking about America. Let me just say that without faith it is impossible to please God, Will faith be found on the earth when Jesus returns, will we , as a church, be walking as we ought? The opposite of faith is fear. Faith equals trust over action. Faith is the substance of things not seen, fear is a denial of God. Faith is trust, fear is the opposite. Without trust, we do not have a genuine relationship, whether in our marriages, or in our walk with the Lord. So, I do believe that we can break it all down to fear,and while all the points that you raised are legitimate, I would simply reiterate that the greatest enemy is fear, but I certainly respect your opinion..................Frank

 2006/3/30 23:58
Logic
Member



Joined: 2005/7/17
Posts: 1791


 Re:

Edited for clarification
appolus wrote:

Quote:

Hi Logic
There are many problems, obviously, and I was not just talking about America. Let me just say that without faith it is impossible to please God, Will faith be found on the earth when Jesus returns, will we , as a church, be walking as we ought? The opposite of faith is fear. Faith equals trust over action. Faith is the substance of things not seen, fear is a denial of God. Faith is trust, fear is the opposite. Without trust, we do not have a genuine relationship, whether in our marriages, or in our walk with the Lord. So, I do believe that we can break it all down to fear,and while all the points that you raised are legitimate, I would simply reiterate that the greatest enemy is fear, but I certainly respect your opinion..................Frank


I've always thought that The opposite of faith is disbelief and/or disobediance.
And
The opposite of fear is love Because there is no fear in love but perfect love cast out fear, and fear involves torment.
[b]1John 4:18[/b] There is no fear in love; but perfect love cast out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love.

If you are finding your conclusion from contrasts or opposites, the greatest enemy would be lack of love and disbelief and/or disobediance.

You might have an unclear definition of what true faith is if you think that fear is the opposite of faith.
Faith is much more thatn just truth. It is fidelity, an exact state of agreement with fact.
Faith is substantial evidence of what is real but no seen.
We know God is real, but we can't see HIM. So, Faith is the knowledge of what we know to be true.

Hope is also of our faith, but it isn't what the world makes it out to be, like a wish.

Our hope is in what we know will be. Our hope is in Jesus. In Jesus one day perfecting us; For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality.[b]1Co 15:53[/b]

Our hope is actualy Jesus Himself. [b]1Tim 1:1[/b] Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the commandment of God our Saviour, [b]and Lord Jesus Christ, who is our hope[/b]

Faith is therefore just acting in accordance to the truth of reality.

You are correct, it is impossible to please God with out faith

Fear on the other hand is not the Opposite of faith but a missdirection of our faith. In other words, an extreme reverence or awe toward a power other that God. A reverence or awe toward a power other than God would strike fear in us because God is the only able one to be all we need. A missdirection of your faith is also idolatry.

So fear is idolatry.

Fear is just another sin, you can not make fear the only opposite of faith. If we go based upon your definition, we could say that Idolitry is the opposite of faith too. Basicaly all sin is the Opposite of faith.

Are you saying that the church today has an extreme reverence or awe toward a something other that God?
Are you saying that the church today is in idolatry?

I say that churches are just, in diferent ways, missing the mark of perfection. You still can not pin one specific sin on the whole entire church of God, because all chruches are diferent. My church is diferent than yours and is missing the mark in another way than yours.

 2006/3/31 1:29Profile
Christinyou
Member



Joined: 2005/11/2
Posts: 3710
Ca.

 Re:

Where is fear and how does it manifest itself? Fear is the recognition that something is going to happen that take us into a realm that we are not able to control.

I have been a Christian for a long time and it is just recently that I have understood who I am and what makes me that way. For many years I new what ROM 8:1 said but I really did not know what it means. I felt good about myself as long as I was walking in God's Law and keeping my end of the bargain, saved by Christ and me keeping the Law because I was supposed to be like Jesus and always went around asking myself WWJD, what would Jesus do? The instant I made a mistake condemnation would flood and I was in fear of loosing my salvation and would run to the altar and beg for forgiveness and pray that God would accept me back. As long as I obeyed the letter of the Law I was acceptable to God. Periods of no condemnation were short lived and I was always in fear of not being good enough to meet Gods requirements to get me into heaven.

Why did Romans 8:1 not work? I had not received the revelation of the Birthing and Christ being in me of which Paul speaks of so many times. Not until I came to the realization that God is my Father did the fear and condemnation leave.

What a shame it to be alive in Christ a live in Him to the Glory of the Father and not know what it means. Galatians 4:1 Now I say, That the heir, as long as he is a child, differeth nothing from a servant, though he be lord of all; Maturity, or immaturity is a condition of the mind just like fear is. There is a period of time in each believer's walk in Christianity that he or she does not know who we are and can remain this way for many years or all our lives, as seen in the the phrase "...as long as...". This period of time will remain the time appointed by the Father. I believe maturity is when the believer comes to an understanding of the Christ who is in him and begins to live according to that knowledge. Galatians 4:2 But is under tutors and governors until the time appointed of the father.

Without the revelation of Christ in the believer there is only one other way to know God: the God of the old testament and law, bondage and fear. Without Paul's epistles, the believer will never know the true nature of God as their Father. The will remain in bondage and fear to the judgmental God of the Old Testament, and also parts of the New Testament. Only Paul's epistles will make the difference when it comes to knowing that God desires to be Father. The problem is we never new it, in John Father is 139 times and only once is it in reference to any other way except that The Father is the Father of Jesus Christ. Only once, as our Father. John 20:17 Jesus saith unto her, Touch me not; for I am not yet ascended to my Father: but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my God, and your God. John's Gospel is not our gospel it is exclusively between the Father and His Son.

This is the first step into no condemnation of fear. In John's Gospel it is not our relationship but the Father and Son, Not until we get to Paul's epistles (after Jesus' death and resurrection, and Assention and return in Incorruptable Seed in the believer does Christ become available to us, and only then can we learn that God is Father through Jesus Christ in us! If we desire to know God as Father and understand His true nature, we must turn to the Pauline epistles. There are no other options! Though Pete expresses Devine Nature, he give no clue as to what kind of nature we have in Christ. Paul, over 200 times expresses our oneness in Christ as son's to our Father. Then fear will evaporate, because we are in the arms of our Father.

Our understanding of our worth must go beyond Luke 15:19 and the prodigal son, to the glory of Christ in us. AS son's and daughter's we are Children of our Father God who loves and has appointed His Son to never leave us, for this is who we are before the Father, a son of God with the Son in us. No fear in Father's Arms, all fear will pass away. May we rest in His loving fear.

Psa 111:10 The fear of the LORD [is] the beginning of wisdom: a good understanding have all they that do [his commandments]: his praise endureth for ever.

Psa 119:63 I [am] a companion of all [them] that fear thee, and of them that keep thy precepts.

Pro 23:17 Let not thine heart envy sinners: but [be thou] in the fear of the LORD all the day long.

In Christ this in not fear anymore for in Him, Christ Jesus there is no condemnation.

In Christ: Phillip


_________________
Phillip

 2006/3/31 2:38Profile
Compton
Member



Joined: 2005/2/24
Posts: 2732


 Re:

Quote:
Satan has come hard at me with fear & worry lately



Hey there brentw,

Listen, I've been under steady conviction for how I've responded to you a few days back in another thread. I really ask your forgiveness for my lack of restraint.

We are given to watch out for each other but my comments were far too cynical. I made a hasty assumption and was too willing to cast you publicly in the wrong light. Satan does indeed come at us...you don't need me coming at you too!

Pardon my open apology here...but it would've seemed inadequate to quietly PM you after my public posts. Just know that I will gladly pray for you to overcome like you asked. I relate so very well to your brief testimony below.

PLease pray that the love of Christ be found in me bro. I am so vain in myself.

Blessings brother,

MC


_________________
Mike Compton

 2006/3/31 3:19Profile









 Re:

Hi Logic
I get the feeling that you disagree :) I am not sure how fruitful it would be to continue to try and persuade you :) Peace brother, let us agree to disagree........................Frank

 2006/3/31 9:55
roadsign
Member



Joined: 2005/5/2
Posts: 3777


 Re: good and bad source of fear

Quote:
Fear on the other hand is not the Opposite of faith but a missdirection of our faith. In other words, an extreme reverence or awe toward a power other that God. A reverence or awe toward a power other than God would strike fear in us because God is the only able one to be all we need.

A missdirection of your faith is also idolatry.



This is well said!

I believe that it would be worth the time to check every reference to FEAR in the Bible, and compare good fear, which is fear of God, with bad fear, which is fear of something else including a distorted perception of God.

Our fear expresses our source of trust and hope.
We fear what we believe has power over us. And our fear is a powerful motivator of our actions and choices in life. We may never experience our fear consciously until our idol is threatened. Then we may very well respond in anger, depression, or some sort of self-protective measure. Fight or flight!

That brings us to the first commandment, which essentially says: "Fear God." For only God has ultimate power over us. And he can also cause us to experience the consequences of our idolatry.
"Our God is a consuming fire."

Our church is paralzyed by fear of forces other than God - MAN and NATURE, including lawsuits, government, being offended, being rejected, etc etc

Just think of the time and money that is spent on insurances and protection.

Think of what does not get accomplished in the name of Christ because of the fear of stepping outside of the comfort zone.

Fear of God leads to deep inner peace, regardless of the forces outside of ourselves. Fear of something other than God will eventually unravel us. We will experience terror.

Quote:
Fear is the enemy to all Christians, not the circumstances of life.



A big "Amen" to this. You presented a good article, Frank.

Quote:
The opposite of faith is fear.


I understand what you are saying. This makes sense.

Diane


_________________
Diane

 2006/3/31 10:50Profile





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