3. What is your worst fear?
•Or do you have so many they keep you
up at night and give you ulcers?
•That kind of anxiety leads to depression
•Depression generates more fear
•Do you know who the “author” of fear is?
•The bible says it comes straight from the
Devil
4. “10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the
strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor
of God, so that you will be able to stand firm
against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the powers, against
the world forces of this darkness, against the
spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
places.”
Ephesians 6:10-12, NASB
5. A. The Fourth Secret Weapon of Satan
•Last week we looked at the first three:
•Persecution, Infiltration/compromise,
Counterfeits
•This week we’ll look at different aspects of the
fourth: Fear
•Psychological warfare is one of the greatest
tools of any war…
6. “10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the
strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor
of God, so that you will be able to stand firm
against the schemes of the devil. 12 For our
struggle is not against flesh and blood, but
against the rulers, against the powers, against
the world forces of this darkness, against the
spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly
places.”
Ephesians 6:10-12, NASB
7. A. The 4th weapon: Fear
•Satan knows how effective this tool is
•That why the Scripture says, “Don not be
afraid” 58 times, and “Fear not” 129 times!
•Once your enemy’s heart is captured with fear,
they’ve all but laid their weapons down and
surrendered
•When a soldier loses heart, he doesn’t think he
can win
8. B. Prudence vs. Paranoia
•Most fears are illogical, self-produced, and never
actually come true
•But fear is still real, and can really disable you
•A deep seated dread, or anxiety can grab your
heart deep down– I’m not talking just about daily
concerns
•When concern turns to fear, the healthy state of
‘prudence’ turns to the dangerous state of
‘paranoia’
9. B. Prudence vs. Paranoia
•Understand the difference? Here…
•Prudence washes hands; paranoia avoids all
human contact for fear of disease
•Prudence wears a seatbelt; paranoia doesn’t get
into a car at all, for any reason
•Prudence prays for the pilot of the plane you’re
on; paranoia says, “I’m not getting on a plane”
10. B. Prudence vs. Paranoia
•Prudence prepares for the future; paranoia
turns one into a miser like Scrooge, hoarding
everything and becoming selfish
•Prudence is healthy preparation; paranoia is a
million dollar bunker with 20 years supply of
food, water, weapons, and ammunition
•See the difference? Which one are you?
11. C. How fear works in your life…
•In 1 Samuel 26, David is a fugitive from Saul…
•Throughout the 10 yr period, David is close to
the Lord
•God kept him from doing wrong, because
David sought Him out and spent many hours
with Him
•But by Chapter 27, David is listening to
himself instead of God– 3 big problems
12. Then David said to himself, “Now I will perish
one day by the hand of Saul. There is nothing
better for me than to escape into the land of
the Philistines. Saul then will despair of
searching for me anymore in all the territory of
Israel, and I will escape from his hand.”
1 Samuel 27:1-3, NASB
13. Then David (1)said to himself, “Now I will
perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is
nothing better for me than to escape into the
land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair
of searching for me anymore in all the territory
of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.”
1 Samuel 27:1-3, NASB
14. Then David said to himself, “Now (2)I will
perish one day by the hand of Saul. There is
nothing better for me than to escape into the
land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair
of searching for me anymore in all the territory
of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.”
1 Samuel 27:1-3, NASB
15. Then David said to himself, “Now I will perish
one day by the hand of Saul. (3)There is
nothing better for me than to escape into the
land of the Philistines. Saul then will despair
of searching for me anymore in all the territory
of Israel, and I will escape from his hand.”
1 Samuel 27:1-3, NASB
16. C. How fear works in your life…
1. David is counseling himself
•So I shouldn’t talk to myself--- NOT the point
•He wasn’t seeking God’s counsel
2. He forgot God’s promises and faithfulness
•Forgot God said he’d be the next king
•Looked at the situation from his perspective,
instead of God’s
17. C. How fear works in your life…
•Just like with David, that’s how Satan operates
on us
•He wants us to ignore God’s promises and
faithfulness to us
•God Promises: He’ll never leave, nor forsake
•Provide all our needs according to His riches
•No one can steal us from Him, Abundant life,
etc.!
18. C. How fear works in your life…
3. Moved in with the Enemy
•David not only forgot all God said, but thought
it would be safer for him in enemy territory
•Can you say frying pan to the fire?
•Notice the progression:
•It begins subtly, almost innocently, with a
simple thought of consulting your own strayed
mind-- that takes you away from God
19. C. How fear works in your life…
•It goes to the stage of willfully ignoring God’s
promises and faithfulness
•Then, you make a decision to move into the
“enemy ’s territory” to be with them
•This happened to Peter at the high priest’s
courtyard during Jesus’ Sanhedrin Trial
•This happened to Abraham’s nephew Lot outside
Sodom
•It can happen to any of us
20. D. How to fight against fear
•The Dictionary definition of fear is, “a
distressing emotion aroused by impending
danger, evil, pain, etc., whether the threat is
real or imagined
•Fear is often rooted in control over life’s
circumstances
•Fear of losing control over people or things
•Worry breeds fear; check this out…
21. D. How to fight against fear
•If you are a person who are fearful often or who’s
prone to worry about something all the time, ask
yourself this question:
•Does my worry make my situation any better?
•Never. Only worse
•The solution for fear is NOT trying to control your
life or the situations around you
•The solution is in TURNING to the One who has
the absolute control over everything for eternity!
22. 25 “For this reason I say to you, do not be
worried about your life, as to what you will eat
or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to
what you will put on. Is not life more than food,
and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at
the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor
reap nor gather into barns, and yet your
heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth
much more than they? 27 And who of you by
being worried can add a single hour to his
23. life? 28 And why are you worried about
clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field
grow; they do not toil nor do they spin, 29 yet I
say to you that not even Solomon in all his
glory clothed himself like one of these. 30 But if
God so clothes the grass of the field, which is
alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the
furnace, will He not much more clothe you?
You of little faith! 31 Do not worry then, saying,
‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we drink?’ or
24. ‘What will we wear for clothing?’ 32 For the
Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your
heavenly Father knows that you need all these
things. 33 But seek first His kingdom and His
righteousness, and all these things will be
added to you. 34 “So do not worry about
tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself.
Each day has enough trouble of its own.”
Matthew 6:25-44, NASB
25. D. How to fight against fear
•As you learn to lean hard onto our all-capable
God in prayer and by the reading of His Word,
you will soon find that the vast majority of
your worries and fear are unfounded
•Our worst case of fear is a great opportunity to
become the best case of trust in God
•Let your fear fall victim to your courage and
faith in the Lord
26. 7 “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity
{fear}, but of power and love and discipline {a
sound mind}.”
2 Timothy 1:7, NASB {NIV}
27. Take Home…
1. We must remember; the vast majority of
our worries/fears are unfounded, because
they are self-made. God can handle the
bumps in the road
2. God’s omni-presence allows us the leap of
faith in/to Him; we can trust Him to keep
His promises
3. Whenever you are fearful of the unknown;
Pray: the Lord know all things, trust Him!
