No Room for Fear

Lesson Transcript

So I finally found that I need to be honest with all my fears and be okay with the worst happening, even though it's not likely that the worst ever will happen. I need to say, "Father, if you want me to look stupid, it's up to you. If you want me to lose money and go hungry, or lose all my friends and the respect of everyone, that's up to you." Good morning, everyone. Good morning. It's good to be here with God's Church to share a message with you. The message I have this morning is one of hope.

I'm going to talk about anxiety. So I'm not an expert on the subject, but in the last year, I've had a lot of it, and this is from my own experience, and I hope it will be beneficial for someone. So what is anxiety? It's a persistent kind of fear. When fear gets out of hand and it becomes dread and worry, a person becomes afraid of the most unlikely things, but you just can't stop fearing these things, and the fear just keeps hitting you over and over. So a little fear is a good thing.

It's our body's response to danger. Like if you're crossing the street and a car is coming, you want to fear that car because you want to react in time to get out of the way of the car. But worry and dread aren't good things. They keep you stressed and emotionally unhealthy, and they distract a person from thinking and living spiritually. So if you've ever dealt with anxiety, I hope this sermon can be an encouragement to you.

And if you haven't, I'm sure you've worried about something before, and I hope this will be a help to you. And what I say this morning will overlap somewhat with Bill's sermon last Sunday and also with, I think, Daniel's previous sermon and probably Conrad's as well. But I think this is something we need to hear about again and again about the hope that we have in Christ. So what does Scripture say about anxiety?

In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus says, "Do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on." That's Matthew 6:25, and I'll quote from this passage more. Also, just before he was going to be crucified, Jesus told his disciples, "Set your troubled hearts at rest. Trust in God always. Trust in me." He continued, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you.

Let not your heart be troubled, neither let them be afraid." He tells his disciples not to be anxious, but to trust him and receive his peace. And Paul tells the Colossians, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body, and be thankful." And to the Philippians, he says, "The Lord is near.

Do not be anxious, but in everything make your requests known to God in prayer and petition with thanksgiving." And finally, Peter says, "If you should suffer for doing right, you may count yourselves happy. Have no fear of other people. Do not be perturbed, but hold Christ in your hearts in reverence as Lord." So not even suffering should make us afraid, and those who fear God should fear God and nothing else. So what's wrong with anxiety? In Matthew 6, which I quoted from earlier, Jesus says, "Do not be anxious.

Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? If our lives revolve around food and clothing, we're living very poor lives indeed." Jesus says, "These are the things that occupy the minds of the heathen. What we worry about is what we care about. And if food and clothing is what we care about, then we're no better than the people who don't know Jesus and live for pleasure." Also, Jesus says, "Can an anxious thought add a single day to your life? Worried is nothing at all.

Anxiety has never clothed or fed anyone." Another reason that we shouldn't worry is that God values us. He says, "Look at the birds in the sky. They do not sow and reap or store in barns. Yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth more than the birds?" And in verse 32, Jesus says that God knows that we need these things. He takes care of the birds, and he cares even more for us. We don't have to worry. Jesus says, "Consider how the lilies grow in the fields. They do not work. They do not spin.

Yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his splendor was not attired like one of them. If that is how God clothes the grass in the fields, which is there today and tomorrow is thrown on the stove, will he not all the more clothe you? How little faith you have." And that's the big problem with anxiety. It's a lack of faith in God. If we're anxious, it's clear that we don't believe that God is what we really need. It's clear that we don't believe that we believe that he can't or won't take care of us properly.

But the people who know God don't need to worry. But my guess is that nobody here actually thinks that anxiety is a good thing. Nobody wants to be anxious. We're anxious because we think we can't get out of it. So what should we do instead? Well, here's Jesus' answer to anxiety. "But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." That's the thesis of my sermon this morning.

In the last few months, I've learned that the first thing I need to do to counter anxiety is to remember my commitment to God. Sometimes I even need to renew the commitment or commit things to him that I haven't committed to him before. Jesus says, "No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the first and love the second, or he will be devoted to the first and despise the second. You cannot serve God in money." So if I'm anxious about something, it means something else is my master.

I'm attaching to myself. I'm attaching myself to something other than God. If I'm afraid I'm going to run out of money this month, then money is my master. Or if I'm afraid that people are going to think I'm stupid, maybe I forgot to button one of my shirt buttons. Or maybe I said a word wrong. Or maybe I said something that people are going to think is silly. If that's the case, then my appearance is my master, and I'm controlled by what other people think about me.

So I finally found that I need to be honest with all my fears and be okay with the worst happening, even though it's not likely that the worst ever will happen. I need to say, "Father, if you want me to look stupid, it's up to you. If you want me to lose money and go hungry or lose all my friends and the respect of everyone, that's up to you." So to counter my anxiety, I look at the very worst things that could happen to me.

And when I do, I realize that I would much rather have those things happen to me than be afraid of them. I would much rather have them happen to me and have God than continually be afraid of them. So when I see them for what they are, I can lay them aside and let God be my master. I can seek first the kingdom, even if those things happen to me. I don't need the responsibility of making sure I'm going to stay alive or that my life is going to go perfectly.

I can't be responsible for making sure that I don't lose all my possessions. Those things are way beyond my ability to do. But instead of assuming the responsibility of making my life go perfectly, I need to trust God completely. This doesn't mean that I don't work so that I can eat or that I don't comb my hair and try to look respectable, but it does mean that if I did my best and bad things happen, it's not my responsibility. And here's something practical that helps me to face my fears.

If I'm alone, I speak them out loud or I write them down. And if there are people around, I pray silently about them. But usually, I write them down, and I take the time to write down every single fear I can think of and every negative thought that I can think of. And I tear up the paper and throw it away and commit myself to trusting God. So seek first the kingdom. Center yourself on God and commit yourself to him. Now, before I go on, I want to discuss an important question about anxiety.

So is it a spiritual condition or a medical condition? That could become a very intense debate because a lot of people have strong beliefs about it. But I don't think it's an either/or. I think that anxiety involves both our body and our spirit. So there's certainly a physiological aspect to anxiety. When you're anxious, the body goes into fight or flight mode, and your body sends out stress-related hormones to keep you on the alert.

And this stress response is something God gave you so that you can respond to dangerous stimuli. But when you're anxious, your mind latches onto the fear and keeps on bringing up these sorts of things and feeds the fears to your body so that your body stays stressed and alert. So there is a bodily component to anxiety. And sometimes it might need to be treated like a disease. There might be medications that help. And also, sleep is really important.

From everything I've read and experienced, sleep is really important for overcoming it because when you're tired, it's just so much harder to think good thoughts and so easy to get stressed. But I also think that the mind has a lot to do with anxiety. I found if I don't ever deal with the underlying stresses that cause the anxiety, it will keep coming back no matter if I have enough sleep and my health is great.

And I also think that even if someone's anxiety doesn't start out as a spiritual battle, it can become that very easily because when we're tired and fearful, it becomes less hard for Satan to win battles against us, especially if we're not trusting God fully. And when he defeats us, that just makes the anxiety worse and makes it easier for him to defeat us again. So I think that anxiety needs to be dealt with on multiple levels, not just one, but on physical, mental, and spiritual levels.

But back to combating anxiety. Another way to combat anxiety is to be thankful. I quoted Paul as saying, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts and be thankful." And also, "The Lord is near. Do not be anxious, but in everything make your requests known to God in prayer and petition with thanksgiving." Thanksgiving is a way of seeking first the kingdom. When we give thanks, it reminds us that God is everything that we have and that he's the one who's actually in control of our lives.

Also, anxiety makes us focus on negative things, but thanksgiving makes us think about good things. Paul tells the Philippians, "All that is true, all that is noble, all that is just and pure, all that is lovable and attractive, whatever is excellent and admirable, fill your thoughts with these things." So I encourage you to pray and thank God for everything, even the things that worry you, because when you're thankful for something, it can't be a burden to you. And here's a practical way that I use to refocus.

And I try to do this multiple times a day. I take some deep breaths and try to relax and just listen to what's happening around me, look at what's happening around me, and just see the beauty in the world God created. And it becomes so much easier to thank God whenever I'm looking at what's happening, paying attention to what's going on around me instead of just living in my head all the time.

Paul says that when we pray in thanksgiving, "The peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." So if we seek first the kingdom, we will be at peace, a peace that passes all understanding. So if we're disciples and we're right with God, we have nothing to fear. If we haven't committed ourselves to God and if we aren't seeking his kingdom first, we need to commit ourselves to him. Jesus says, "Come to me, all who are weary and whose load is heavy.

I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble-hearted, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to wear. My load is light." Jesus won't burden us with cares and anxiety. He's already carried our sorrows on the cross. And if we commit ourselves to him, he will give our souls rest. But what if we are Christians already and we have committed ourselves to God and his kingdom? What do we do if we're afraid we're not right with God?

And what if we think we've done something wrong and God condemns us? Well, there's still hope for us. First of all, we can't always trust what our consciences say because anxiety will accuse us of all sorts of things, even if we're doing the right thing. And I think if a person is trying to fix a mistake that they made and they still feel a crushing anxiety about that mistake, I don't think that anxiety can be from God because God is quick to forgive us.

And when we confess our sins and turn to him, he's not going to load us down with that kind of care. So if that's happening, when that happens to me, I know it's anxiety. It's not my conscience that's bothering me. It's the anxiety that needs to be dealt with. So if that's the case, who might be accusing us? Well, we know Satan is an accuser. That's what the Hebrew word Satan means. And he will accuse even the most upright and righteous people, like Job, for example.

In Revelation 12, John says, "And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying, 'Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.

And they have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they love not their lives, even unto death.'" If Satan is the accuser, even of the faithful martyrs, we can't trust his accusations to tell us whether we're in the wrong. He'll accuse us more than ever if we're living entirely for God. But Satan's lies will be exposed if we remain faithful. John also says, "Whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart.

Our conscience might be wrong, and the accusations of Satan might be misleading us." And Peter says, "Our enemy, the devil, like a roaring lion, prowls around looking for someone to devour." He says that instead of worrying, we need to stand firm in our faith and cast all our cares on God because God cares for us. That's 1 Peter 5:7-9. And if we're seeking first the kingdom, we can be confident in standing up against Satan because he has no claim on us whatsoever.

In Romans, Paul tells the church at Rome, "If God is for us, who can be against us? Who shall bring any charge against God's elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died. More than that, who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?

I am sure that neither death nor life nor angels nor rulers nor things present nor things to come nor powers nor height nor depth nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord." So the accuser has no hold on us, and his accusations are lies. If we seek first the kingdom, if we are committed to God, if we've sought his forgiveness, God is the one who justifies us, and no one can condemn us. So how can we know whether we're right with God?

How can we know we're seeking first the kingdom? In 1 John 3, John says, "Anyone who does not love is still in the realm of death, for everyone who hates a fellow Christian is a murderer. And murderers, as you know, do not have eternal life dwelling within them." This is how we know what love is. Christ gave his life for us, and we, in turn, must give our lives for our fellow Christians.

But if someone who possesses the good things of this world sees a fellow Christian in need and withholds compassion from him, how can it be said that the love of God dwells in him? Children, love must not be a matter of theory or talk. It must be true love which shows itself in action. This is how we shall know that we belong to the realm of truth and reassure ourselves in his sight where conscience condemns us, for God is greater than our conscience and knows all.

So the central value of the kingdom of God is love. And John says that if we love each other, that is how we know we belong to the truth. If we have an act of love, that's how we can reassure ourselves. John says later, "In love, there is no room for fear. Indeed, perfect love banishes fear, for fear has to do with punishment, and anyone who is afraid has not attained to love in its perfection." The answer to fear is to commit ourselves to love because love and fear do not coexist.

Whatever happens to me, whether I am at peace or troubled, whether I am rich or poor, respected or friendless, I need to do everything out of love for God, and then fear can have no hold on me. This brings so much freedom because when I'm no longer doing things for myself, I don't worry about myself anymore. When I stop caring about what happens to me and I only care about God and his kingdom, then there's no more room to fear because fear is about what happens to me.

But of course, Satan keeps trying to find ways to accuse us. Here's one thing that might happen. Even when we're released from all the other fears, and even if we don't fear anything at all, we might start fearing that we'll be afraid. So I might worry, "What if I have a panic attack and I forget how to deal with it?" Or, "What if I stress out and get a headache that's so bad I can't give a sermon this Sunday?" I didn't have a headache that was that bad, fortunately.

But that's really silly because if you aren't afraid of anything, why would you be afraid of fear? And this kind of fear has the same problem as the other fears. It's a fear about myself. If God comes first, then it doesn't matter so much if I have to fight anxiety. If anxiety is something that comes along with being committed to God, then it's worth it. I'll gladly take all the consequences of loving God. And I find that if I refocus myself like this, then that fear starts to leave.

When I'm not afraid of anxiety anymore, it doesn't have a hold on me. And another worry that might come is this one: what if I don't love others as much as I should? Maybe I'm not loving others right so that I'm not living perfectly in love. Well, that worry needs to go too because the way we know that we love as much as we should is if we seek first the kingdom. The thing that is your highest priority is what you love. And if God is our highest priority, then that means that we love God.

If his things are what come first, if we seek the kingdom first, then we love him. And we might have to refocus ourselves every day to keep the kingdom first in our focus and to keep God and our neighbors to be our priority instead of ourselves. But if we are doing that and if we are sacrificing our good for others, then we're abiding in love. And here's a mindset that I think we need to have if we're going to seek first the kingdom. So even our wish for salvation needs to be secondary to our love of God.

Of course, we want to be saved and be part of God's kingdom, but that isn't the point. The point is not for us to be part of God's kingdom. The point is God's kingdom. We seek first the kingdom. If we seek first to be saved, we aren't seeking the kingdom. And Paul is an example of this. He says, "I would even pray to be an outcast myself, cut off from Christ, if it would help my brothers." Paul loved God and his people so much that he would have been willing to give up everything for them.

Of course, we want to be saved, and we want to be raised up on the last day. But first, we love God. First, we seek the kingdom, and then all that is added to us. Then we'll be willing that the very worst would happen to us, and then we can stop being afraid of it. Remember the passage from Revelation where the saints have conquered the accuser by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, for they love not their lives, even unto death.

If we love God and we love our brothers and we no longer love our own lives, the accuser is silenced. He has nothing more to accuse us with. So finally, let's love each other because God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this is love perfected with us so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment. If we love, we will not fear, and nothing can stand between us and the love of Christ.