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Faith vs. Fear 2
- David Brown
- Mar 15, 2009
- Series: Faith vs. Fear
Passage: Mark 4:36-40
Faith vs. Fear 2
Mark 4:36-40
To be empty of faith leaves one open to being full of fear.
Faith is believing that what you cannot see is coming to pass. Fear is also believing that what you cannott see is coming to pass.
Believers are to walk by faith…not by sight, nor in fear of what they see!
Job 1:1 – 2:9
At first, Job didn’t “charge [God] foolishly” = to smear, plaster or slime.
He didn’t impune God’s character
[James 1:13-14 “Let no man say when he is tempted, I am tempted of God: for God cannot be tempted with evil, neither tempteth he any man: But every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed.”]]
God never tempts us to fail. He will challenge you to succeed!
Job, without the revelation we now have, assumed that God had given and now taken away his blessings for some mysterious reason. He didn’t curse him or turn against him…but did have some wrong assumptions about him (like most people still do.)
Jobs three friends assumed Job to be guilty of sin and hypocrisy, and that he was being punished God.
They believed his bad fortune was deserved and came by the hand of God.
But the book clearly shows that Satan was the one who handed Job his trouble!
There is a revealing statement from Job that explains a lot…specifically how Job (who had a hedge/fence around him) came to be “in Satan’s power or hand”.
Job 3:25-26
I was not in safety, (tranquil, secure) neither had I rest, neither was I quiet (settled down), yet trouble came!
(Job placed himself in Satan’s hand or power! God only recognized it!)
Fear is Faith in the negative.
Fear can cause evil to come to pass.
Fear attracts the very thing you’re afraid of and can cause it to come to pass.
After Job and his three friends talked, debated, surmised, assumed, pontificated and opined for 32 chapters…God chose to speak to the situation!
God’s Sermon (Read from New Living Translation)
Job 38 NLT
1 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
2 “Who is this that questions my wisdom
with such ignorant words?
3 Brace yourself like a man,
because I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.
4 “Where were you when I laid the foundations of the earth?
Tell me, if you know so much.
5 Who determined its dimensions
and stretched out the surveying line?
6 What supports its foundations,
and who laid its cornerstone?
8 “Who kept the sea inside its boundaries
as it burst from the womb,
9 and as I clothed it with clouds
and wrapped it in thick darkness?
10 For I locked it behind barred gates,
limiting its shores.
11 I said, ‘This far and no farther will you come.
Here your proud waves must stop!’
12 “Have you ever commanded the morning to appear
and caused the dawn to rise in the east?
13 Have you made daylight spread to the ends of the earth,
to bring an end to the night’s wickedness?
16 “Have you explored the springs from which the seas come?
Have you explored their depths?
17 Do you know where the gates of death are located?
Have you seen the gates of utter gloom?
18 Do you realize the extent of the earth?
Tell me about it if you know!
19 “Where does light come from,
and where does darkness go?
20 Can you take each to its home?
Do you know how to get there?
21 But of course you know all this!
For you were born before it was all created,
and you are so very experienced!
34 “Can you shout to the clouds
and make it rain?
35 Can you make lightning appear
and cause it to strike as you direct?
36 Who gives intuition to the heart
and instinct to the mind?
37 Who is wise enough to count all the clouds?
Who can tilt the water jars of heaven
Job 39:26-27 NLT
26 “Is it your wisdom that makes the hawk soar
and spread its wings toward the south?
27 Is it at your command that the eagle rises
to the heights to make its nest?
Job 40:1-14 NLT
1 Then the LORD said to Job,
2 “Do you still want to argue with the Almighty?
You are God’s critic, but do you have the answers?”
3 Then Job replied to the LORD,
4 “I am nothing—how could I ever find the answers?
I will cover my mouth with my hand.
5 I have said too much already.
I have nothing more to say.”
6 Then the LORD answered Job from the whirlwind:
7 “Brace yourself like a man,
because I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.
8 “Will you discredit my justice
and condemn me just to prove you are right?
9 Are you as strong as God?
Can you thunder with a voice like his?
10 All right, put on your glory and splendor,
your honor and majesty.
11 Give vent to your anger.
Let it overflow against the proud.
12 Humiliate the proud with a glance;
walk on the wicked where they stand.
13 Bury them in the dust.
Imprison them in the world of the dead.
14 Then even I would praise you,
for your own strength would save you
Job 41:1-5 NLT
1 “Can you catch Leviathan with a hook
or put a noose around its jaw?
2 Can you tie it with a rope through the nose
or pierce its jaw with a spike?
3 Will it beg you for mercy
or implore you for pity?
4 Will it agree to work for you,
to be your slave for life?
5 Can you make it a pet like a bird,
or give it to your little girls to play with?
Job 42:1-6NLT
1 Then Job replied to the LORD:
2 “I know that you can do anything,
and no one can stop you.
3 You asked, ‘Who is this that questions my wisdom with such ignorance?’
It is I—and I was talking about things I knew nothing about,
things far too wonderful for me.
4 You said, ‘Listen and I will speak!
I have some questions for you,
and you must answer them.’
5 I had only heard about you before,
but now I have seen you with my own eyes.
6 I take back everything I said,
and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.”
Job 42:10, 12-13
Gods Sermon corrected Job’s thinking and filled him with faith!
A revelation of God’s greatness brings faith into your heart!
Real faith believes that God is just and blameless… that we don’t understand everything and we’re not right about everything!
Let’s get full of faith and empty of fear!
4 Keys to living Fear Free!
Be filled with Faith!
Romans 10:17
Speak Words of Faith
2 Corinthians 4:13
Be Filled with the Holy Spirit!
Ephesians 5:18
2 Timothy 1:7
Resist the Spirit of Fear!
James 4:7
Fear will bring cursing, calamity, weakness, weariness, destruction and demise to your life.
Faith will transform your attitude, your morals, your thinking, your health, your wealth, your situation, your human condition…for the better!
Luke 12:32