Topic: Overcoming the spirit of Fear Pt.2

MESSAGES FOR JANUARY 2016: OUR MONTH OF FREEDOM FROM FEAR

Theme: Understanding Our Dominion over Fear

Message for Sunday the 17^th of January, 2016

Topic: Overcoming the spirit of Fear Pt.2 (fear destroyers) 2Tim.1:7; Rm.8:15

Introduction: One day while having a meeting with the director of an organization where I once worked, the man made a statement I would never forget. He said you cannot fight a structure as an individual; it would take another structure to defeat a structure. This is a true fact everywhere you go. We have been looking at overcoming fear. So far we have been able to establish that fear is a spirit. It would take a stronger spirit to defeat fear. We would therefore need to get spiritual to be able to defeat the spirit of fear. In 2Cor.10:3-6 we learn that though we war in the flesh, the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God. What then are these weapons God has given us to defeat the spirit of fear?

Our weapon of victory over fear

While we can identify many isolated weapons from the word of God for destroying fear; God has simplified it for us by giving us the ones in these texts: “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” 2Tim.1:7

“For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.” Romans 8:15.

A closer look at these texts would reveal the following truths to us:

1.     Fear is a spirit. It is an evil spirit and therefore not of God.

2.     People get it by receiving it through their choice of death as against their choice of life. People choose death when they choose to believe the lie of the devil over the truth of the word of God. For example, Eve believed the lie of the devil that if she ate of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil she was not going to die. See Gen.3:1-6, 8-10. She ate it and died spiritually and became possessed by fear.

3.     It is given by him who had the power of death i.e. the devil – Heb.2:14-15.

4.     Anytime the devil offers you fear, you reserve the right to reject it and if you do, you will not be oppressed by him because he would not be able to gain access into your life without you receiving his spirit of fear. See Isaiah 54:14.

5.     To defeat fear, we must engage God’s superior spiritual force of life because only a spirit can destroy a spirit. See Romans 8:1 – it takes the law of the spirit of life in Christ Jesus to be set free from fear which is under the law of sin and death.

6.     In the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus, we learn that God does not give us fear but He gives us what would counter and destroy fear and that is the spirit of power, love and a sound mind. See 2Tim.1:7.

7.     Any one of these manifestations of the Holy Spirit would destroy fear in its totality.

How they work

1.     The Spirit of Power – When we receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, what we get is the power of God that has unlimited capacity to destroy all the forces of darkness put together including fear. See Acts 1:8; 2:14 and 4:13– when this Spirit came on Samson, he destroyed his enemies. When He came on the early Church fathers, He turned the former coward Peter into a mighty apostle of faith. Fear lost its residence in these people. We can release this power of God:

·        Through speaking the word of God boldly as the Holy Spirit prompts us. Acts 4:33

·        Through praying in tongues – Acts 4:31, 33

·        Through preaching and teaching the word of God – Acts 19:9-12

Note that every time the power of God is released, fear is usually cast out because it injects faith into the hearer and faith is the number one bully against fear. see Matt.8:16.

2.     The Spirit of Love: The Holy Spirit is also the Spirit of love. He is the reason Christ came to redeem us. He is the promise of the spirit which we receive through faith. See Gal.3:13-14. When we walk in love we demonstrate the nature of God where there is no fear. In 1Jn.4:18 we learn that as we grow   in maturity in our love walk, fear is cast out of our lives as fear cannot be accommodated by love. This is why we are commanded to walk in love. This is the new commandment that God has given to us. See Jn.13:34-35. Everyone who grows in their love walk will eventually grow to the point where they become completely fearless. How do we grow in your love walk? We grow by consciously practicing it every time situations arise in our lives that bring before us the choice to either walk in love or not to walk in love. If we choose to walk in love every time, we will be growing in our love walk every time. So make the right choice from now and every day onward in your life. See Deu.30:19-20

3.     The spirit of a sound mind: we also received the spirit of a sound mind by redemption. When our mind is sound, fear cannot stay there. This spirit is also known as the mind of Christ. This is why Apostle Paul says in 1Cor.2:16 that we have the mind of Christ. The mind of Christ does not accommodate fear. Note however that this mind is a potential in us at new birth. It is as we work out our salvation through spiritual exercises like praying, fasting, reading and meditating on the word, giving the word first place in our lives and doing the word that our minds grow to begin to manifest as the mind of Christ which we have received. So if we want to be free from fear, we must work out our salvation and then God will empower the mind of Christ in us to destroy every fear from our lives. See Phlp.2:12-13, Ps.1:1-3, Gal.4:1, 1Tim.4:13-16 and Jas.1:22-25.

4.     The Spirit of Adoption: In Romans 8:15 we are told that by redemption, we have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear but that we have received the Spirit of adoption that enables us to call God our father. This Spirit is referred to in 2Cor.3:16-17 as The Lord. We also learn here that wherever He is, there is liberty. One of the first things we are liberated from is fear. This is so appropriate because the first manifestation of bondage after man sinned in Eden after being stripped naked of the glory of God; was fear. When we get born again, we receive a new spirit from God known as the new creation. This spirit has never existed before and never sinned and does not sin because the seed of God is in it. See 2Cor.5:17, 1John 3:9; Ezek.36:26-27 and Heb.10:15-17. The Lord then comes to stay inside this new creation and therefore, fear is compelled to leave.

·        The fear people experience when they are saved does not stay in the spirit, it is in the soul realm and it is usually received when man pays attention to the lie of the devil. It can be cast out by the same man since it is a devil and one of the signs that you are saved is that you can cast out devils. See Mk.16:17

·        You can cast out this devil by refusing to believe the lie of the devil and receiving the truth of God’s word.

·        When we receive the word of God, we can now speak up and command the spirit of fear to leave us and never return. If it attempts to return, you repeat the process again until it would no longer be able to attack you because the more you do so, the more your faith grows and swallows up the fear.

We shall stop here today. Next week, we shall continue to look at how to overcome the spirit of fear with the word of God. Meanwhile, like we have seen today, the first step to overcoming fear is to become a new creation if you have not yet done so. Receiving Jesus Christ as your Saviour and Lord is what grants you access into God’s Kingdom. In this Kingdom, we are endued with the Holy Spirit to live for and reign with Christ. Should you desire to do so right now, please say the following prayer out loud in faith and you will be born again into God’s family:

Heavenly Father,

Have mercy on me a sinner. Today, I believe that Jesus died for me and you raised Him from the dead for my Justification. I therefore declare that Jesus Christ is my Saviour and Lord and from today, I renounce the fatherhood of Satan and embrace Jesus Christ as my Saviour and Lord. Thank you for this father in Jesus’ name!

Amen.

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Remain on top of your challenges in Jesus’ name!