No Fear!
Lighthouse Fellowship of Friends Sermon
January 30. 2022
Pastor James Barclift
No Fear is a sermon from a series of topics that are close to Pastor Barclift’s heart, so this is from a series I’ll call Sermons from the Heart. The Scripture is Psalm 46. (NIV)
For the director of music. Of the Sons of Korah. According to alamoth. A song.
1 God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the
mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
3 though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with
their surging.
4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy
place where the Most High dwells.
5 God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.
7 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
8 Come and see what the LORD has done, the desolations he has brought
on the earth.
9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and
shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire.
10 He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among
the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.”
11 The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Everywhere around is cause for fear. We fear in the midst of a pandemic, for our lives, our finances, and any number of things that can cause us to fear in the moment and for the future.
During prosperous times we pray for wisdom. Having a Spirit of Thanksgiving, allows us to recognize God’s goodness in good times. During troubled times, we must stand on God’s word. We must not fear for “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV) For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
Although all around us we hear fear from the media and friends and in many messages, we see and hear, a fear that can stop us in our tracks God says have no fear. How do we develop that ability to have no fear? Only by developing a real relationship with our Saviour, Jesus Christ, can that happen. Many people believe that God exist, but a knowledge of existence is not a relationship with Him. Only accepting Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour and being sold out to him, can that happen.
It is not always easy to hear His voice because Satan, our enemy, is battling us with fear to be distracted from the voice of Jesus and from his deliverance from fear. God’s will is for us to have no fear. With God we have a bright future, not a fear-filled future. That doesn’t mean we have no troubles coming our way. It does not mean that God will answer our prayers how we expect the outcome should be. God does that in his own way.
Just like the Israelites coming out of slavery in Egypt we are enslaved to sin. Every time we come against a fearful situation; we should trust God that he will conquer the fearful situation in His way. When the Israelites came up to the land of Canaan the tribes sent in 12 spies to see what their prospects were for conquering the land. Ten spies said Canaan was a great land, but there were Giants in the land they could never defeat. Joshua and Caleb said with God the Giants could be defeated.
Our problems seem like giants to us, but with God, we can defeat them with no fear. Israel was swayed by the negative reports of the 10 spies, but Joshua and Caleb gave a positive report because of the overcoming God. Our negative reports these days are things like the pandemic, recession, inflation, health, finances, international threats, and crime, to mention only some. Psalm 46: 2,3 mentions some terrible problems; mountains falling into the sea and the earth quaking. These are certainly not anything humankind can handle, but God can. Denial of negative reports is not faith. We do indeed see terrible things around us. Faith is acknowledging that evil exists, fearful things exist, but God has a good outcome for us regardless, so we should have no fear. Yes, there are Giants in the land, but they cannot stand against our God.
Our culture has changed. Worship in God’s house has waned. Our culture does not recognize the importance of God in the culture as it once did. The Israelites faced a similar problem as captives in Babylon. Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego were three young Hebrew men faithful to the Lord God Almighty and refused to bow down to the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. Nebuchadnezzar told them they would or die in a fiery furnace. Surely, the only outcome could be death. The three men refused and believed God could save them from this furnace, but if He did not, they would only worship the one true God and not bow to the earthly king. They went into the furnace, and even the guards who put them in perished from the fire. However, the three Hebrew men did not. King Nebuchadnezzar saw a 4th man inside the fire with them. That was the Savior. Christ Jesus. Not only did the three Hebrew men survive, but they didn’t even have to smell of smoke on them. God did it all for three men of faith who had no fear!
Each of us can have that same faith. We can receive that same protection. Just ask Christ to come into your life. For God is: our Strength, our Refuge, our Help, the Most High, Within Us, With Us, our Fortress, God, and Exalted in all the earth. (Psalm 46) God is also: our Shelter (Ps. 91:1); our Strong Tower (Prov. 18:10); our Redeemer (Isa. 43:1). So in everything give thanks and have no fear!!
“Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flames shall not consume you.” – Isaiah 43:1-2
