Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
(Why would we need to be told, “Fear thou not”?Has Jesus told all of us to do something, something we sadly are afraid to do?Yes, he commissioned us to go out and give the gospel.)
Mark 16:15 And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.
(First, he lets us know that he has been given all power in heaven and in earth:)
Matthew 28:18 And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.
(But then he said that we have received power, through the Holy Ghost, when we were saved:)
Acts 1:8 But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth.
(But even knowing that promise, that we have that power necessary to go out and give the gospel, we are still afraid to.We even have great excuses whereby we attempt to excuse ourselves from what we are commanded to do, because of our fear.Some of our more common excuses are, “I don’t have that particular gift, or “I don’t know the Bible that well”, or “I’m too busy”.Well, we better not be too busy with anything that keeps us from what we are commanded to do.Most often we convince ourselves that only those that have that special gift, or ministry, are to give the gospel, like pastors.However, in the days of the early church, Jesus proved us wrong, by using the non-clergy to give the gospel wherever they were:)
Acts 8:1 And Saul was consenting unto his death. And at that time there was a great persecution against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered abroad throughout the regions of Judaea and Samaria, except the apostles.
(“they were all scattered abroad”, “except the apostles”, means the non-clergy were scattered abroad:)
Acts 11:19 Now they which were scattered abroad upon the persecution that arose about Stephen travelled as far as Phenice, and Cyprus, and Antioch, preaching the word to none but unto the Jews only.20 And some of them were men of Cyprus and Cyrene, which, when they were come to Antioch, spake unto the Grecians, preaching the Lord Jesus.21 And the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord.26b And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch.
(Those non-clergy gave the gospel wherever they went, and churches were started, like the one in Antioch.Then those people that they led to the Lord, also went out with the gospel, leading others to the Lord, and they others …How far did that increase of the gospel spread?)
Romans 10:18 But I say, Have they not heard? Yes verily, their sound went into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world.
(No doubt they had to struggle with fear, like we do - what fear did they have to overcome? What are we actually afraid of?We know that it is a spiritual struggle – we know that the devil and his under-devils don’t want us to, and will try to stop us.Large numbers of invisible, fallen, evil angels, who are greater in power and might than men, is a frightening thought.More frightening is the thought that we are to crash their gates, to enter their domain, to get the gospel to those behind enemy lines.)
Matthew 16:18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
(Yes, that is what that line is about, us crashing their gates, not the other way around.We’re not protected from gates attacking us – that’s insane – gates don’t attack people – no, people crash gates!It’s not, “Oh no! The gates are coming, and when they get here, they’re gonna get us!”Have you ever seen gates coming down the road? Have you ever seen gates attacking a church building, or the people inside it?No, “I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it”, isn’t about defense from the gates.The church is not on the defensive from the gates of hell, but rather on the offensive, to crash the gates of hell.Why? In order to enter the domain of the enemy, here on earth, where people are captive to the devil, and in bondage to sin.We are to crash through the gates of hell, in order to get the gospel to people who under the dominion of the enemy.And when we, by the Spirit, go to crash those gates of hell, those gates will not prevail, they will be powerless to stop us.But we’re afraid. No doubt the early Christians were also, at first, but then they became very courageous.Where did they get that courage? It was given to them. Jesus gave them that courage, from his word:)
Matthew 14:24 But the ship was now in the midst of the sea, tossed with waves: for the wind was contrary.25 And in the fourth watch of the night Jesus went unto them, walking on the sea.26 And when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were troubled, saying, It is a spirit; and they cried out for fear.27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
(They were all afraid, but Jesus spoke the word of God to them, and said, “Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid”.And then from the courage that he got from the word of God, that he just heard, Peter then said:)
Matthew 14:28 And Peter answered him and said, Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.29 And he said, Come. And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.
(Why would Peter even ask Jesus to bid him come to him on the water?Because Peter had a great infusion of courage by the word of God that he just heard.Then when he heard the word of God, “Come”, he had even greater courage, and faith enough to walk on the water!)
Romans 10:17 So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
(Yeah, we all know that Peter started to fear again, and began to sink, but Jesus didn’t let him drown.Peter learned a great lesson about the difference between fear and faith.When we believe the word, we have great courage by faith, or else we listen to our flesh and fear.Peter experienced both, to know the difference, and to be a great example for us, so that we will know the difference.When, by faith, we believe the word of God, we have extremely great courage, as exampled by others.It seems that after David was anointed by Samuel, and the Spirit of the LORD came upon him, David had extremely great courage:)
I Samuel 17:34 And David said unto Saul, Thy servant kept his father’s sheep, and there came a lion, and a bear, and took a lamb out of the flock:35 And I went out after him, and smote him, and delivered it out of his mouth: and when he arose against me, I caught him by his beard, and smote him, and slew him.36 Thy servant slew both the lion and the bear: and this uncircumcised Philistine shall be as one of them, seeing he hath defied the armies of the living God.37 David said moreover, The LORD that delivered me out of the paw of the lion, and out of the paw of the bear, he will deliver me out of the hand of this Philistine. And Saul said unto David, Go, and the LORD be with thee.
(Apparently something similar happened to Benaiah, who also was given tremendous courage:)
I Chronicles 11:22 Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done many acts; he slew two lionlike men of Moab: also he went down and slew a lion in a pit in a snowy day.
(It is the same for us, except we are not fighting against lions, bears, or Philistines, but against the invisible forces of darkness:)
Ephesians 6:12 For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
(When we, by the Spirit, crash the gates of hell, he apparently puts fear on them, similar to how he put fear on the Canaanites:)
Exodus 23:27a I will send my fear before thee,27c and I will make all thine enemies turn their backs unto thee.
(We can know, when we, by the Spirit, crash the gates of hell, that there are far more with us, than those against us:)
II Kings 6:15 And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how shall we do?16 And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.17 And Elisha prayed, and said, LORD, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha.
(Except, when we, by the Spirit, crash the gates of hell, we don’t see the Lord’s angels, nor the enemy angels, they’re all invisible.So, is there a physical example for us in the word of God, whereby we may know how it will be in the spiritual?Yes, three men, by the Spirit, crashed the gate of the garrison of the Philistines, in order to get to something inside enemy lines.Only three men fought their way to garrison, crashed the gate, continued fighting inside, to get to what they wanted.The Philistines fought to stop them at every step of the way, but did not prevail against those three men:)
II Samuel 23:13 And three of the thirty chief went down, and came to David in the harvest time unto the cave of Adullam: and the troop of the Philistines pitched in the valley of Rephaim.14 And David was then in an hold, and the garrison of the Philistines was then in Bethlehem.15 And David longed, and said, Oh that one would give me drink of the water of the well of Bethlehem, which is by the gate!16 And the three mighty men brake through the host of the Philistines, and drew water out of the well of Bethlehem, that was by the gate, and took it, and brought it to David: nevertheless he would not drink thereof, but poured it out unto the LORD.17 And he said, Be it far from me, O LORD, that I should do this: is not this the blood of the men that went in jeopardy of their lives? therefore he would not drink it. These things did these three mighty men.
(The LORD asked Job:)
Job 38:17a Have the gates of death been opened unto thee?
(In our case, the answer is yes, because Jesus has the keys, and has commanded us to crash those gates:)
Revelation 1:18 I am he that liveth, and was dead; and, behold, I am alive for evermore, Amen; and have the keys of hell and of death.
Isaiah 62:10a Go through, go through the gates;
(We can through those gates, now, because:)
Psalms 107:16 For he hath broken the gates of brass, and cut the bars of iron in sunder.
(So that we can bring the gospel to those in darkness, and for those who believe the gospel, Jesus will then:)
Psalms 107:14 He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
Hebrews 2:15 And deliver them who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.
(But I’m afraid - yet I can be bold, through the Spirit, by the word of God, as the early Christians learned:)
Acts 4:13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.18 And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.21 So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done.23 And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them.24a And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord,29 And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,31 And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.
(Because:)
II Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
(Trust Jesus to be with us, and to give us great courage by the word of God:)
Deuteronomy 31:6 Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee.8 And the LORD, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed.
Isaiah 41:10 Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness.
(Like he spoke to Gideon, and infused him with extremely great courage, when he called him, “thou mighty man of valour”)
Judges 6:11 And there came an angel of the LORD, and sat under an oak which was in Ophrah, that pertained unto Joash the Abiezrite: and his son Gideon threshed wheat by the winepress, to hide it from the Midianites.2 And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him, and said unto him, The LORD is with thee, thou mighty man of valour.
(Does not Jesus want to say to you, “thou mighty man of valor”, or to you, “thou mighty woman of valor”?Will you crash the gates of hell with him? Will you bring the good news of his gospel to the lost behind enemy lines?Fear thou not, thou mighty man of valor! Fear thou not, thou mighty woman of valor!)
.