Pastor's Pulpit

Well greetings in the name which is above every name, the Lord Jesus Christ! So glad you could check out our website, I hope that you will be encouraged by what you find on this site. The messages you find here are preached in our services or preached by other men of God. I want them to be a blessing to you and I trust if you don't know the Lord as your personal Saviour, that you will accept Him as your Saviour before it is too late. If we can be of help to you spiritually, just email me.
The following message was preached at on Sunday Sept. 9th, I have since preached it in two other churches and it was used of the Lord to encouraged God's people. I trust it will be a blessing to you as well.

Fear Thou Not

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. "

Isn't that a wonderful verse! God tells us over and over in the Word of God not to be afraid. But people live in fear today. Some are afraid of everything. They are afraid of disease, sickness, pains. Some are afraid of what others think of them or what others will do to them. Some live in fear of growing old and feeble or living alone. The Bible speaks of a time when men's hearts will fail them for fear. And today we have a society that is suffering from health problems related to stress, anxiety and fear. Now the unsaved mine you, have something to fear. Judgment, facing a Holy God without any hope. Facing God unprepared and being condemned to Eternal Hell. But the child of God should never be living in fear. Every day you spend in fear is a wasted day, and the devil has won the victory in your life. In II Timothy 1:7, God has told us that He doesn't give us the spirit of fear, but of love, and power and a sound mind. So if God doesn't give us the spirit of fear, who does? The devil, so every time you are fearful, just remember where it came from.
Look at the verse again, it outlines itself and gives us the reason why we should not fear.
Fear Not:

I. Because I am with You.
God says, don't be afraid! why? Because I am with you. We have the promise of His presence. In Heb. 13:5-6 God says He will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. That's why we can boldly say the Lord is our helper! I will not fear what man can do to me. God's presence and provision will produce contentment. ( vs. 5 ) So why should I fear what tomorrow holds, because I know Who holds my tomorrows. He will be with me to face whatever I have to face. He will never leave me alone. He has promised to watch over me. So dear child of God, fear not. Just remember what the Lord has already done for you. He has saved us from eternity in hell, He has been with us , He has seen us through the hard times as well as the good times. God has been so Good!!
II. For I am thy God.
I am your God, we have the promise of His Person. He is God. Notice we have One who is greater than any circumstance, situation, greater than any problem you will ever face. He is Almighty God, Jehovah. Read Isaiah 40: 10-15, 17-22 and 25-31, then look at 41:13-14, He is described as the Lord God, Thy Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel. Need I fear any longer? When I have such a One as the Lord as my helper? He is my God, I know Him personally. I came by faith one day as a lost sinner, on the way to hell, deserving to go to Hell. But I heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I got saved. I realize He shed His blood on the old rugged cross, and paid my sin debt. I bowed my unworthy head, and accepted His gift of Love and salvation, and I was born again. Grace, wonderful grace, coming down from the Father above, that Grace is found in the Lord Jesus Christ. Notice the words, " be not dismayed.." it means don't be discouraged, has to do with fearing the prospect of trouble. Being fearful of what could happen. What if?? Many times we worry about things that never happen. We are prone to get ahead of ourselves and the Lord. So we allow Satan to rob us of the joy of today, because we are worrying about tomorrow-which we have no control over. God says, Fear thou not. Be not dismayed! Why? because I am thy God. I am still on the throne. Hey, quit worrying and start trusting, I know it is easier said than done, but if we will realize that God is our God, it will be easier. The promise of His presence.
Fear thou not:
III. I will strengthen thee.
We read in II Tim. 1:7 ( but of power... ) Satan's desire is to get us to trust in our own ability, and ignore God's power. The devil will try to keep us from stepping out to do anything for Christ, but we need to realize we have the promise of His power. That power that is available to us is the power of God Almighty, Himself. When we step out to do something for God, it doesn't matter about our ability, just do your best and let God work through you. It's not our ability that is the issue, but the ability and power of our God, He's not weak. When we are weak He can show His mighty power through us. That is what the Apostle Paul was talking about in II Cor. 12:9, God can show His power only when we recognize our weakness. ( vs. 10 ) So when you feel you can't go on, when you have failed, that's when you lean on the Lord for strength. ( Isa. 40:29-31 ) He has promised His presence, His person, and His power. So fear thou not!

IV. I will Help You.
God says He will help us through the times of adversity, trials, and struggles. He will help us do what we need to do. I believe that means, we have the promise of His promises! We have this fear that God is going to let us down. When we start thinking like that, we are not thinking biblical. That's not scriptural, it is worldly thinking. We need to go back to the Word of God and claim some promises. We need to realize what God said and believe it.
For example: The devil would have you believe that God can't save you. You are too wicked, you can't be forgiven. Well I read over in Hebrews 7:25, that He can save to the uttermost, those that come to him by faith. Amen? If he can't get you there, then he will tell you that God can't keep you! Just read John 10:27-29, read I Peter 1:5 amen? You think because you're not living right, you must be lost. That is faulty thinking, If you are saved, you ought to live right, but that is not what got you saved, and it doesn't keep you saved. If you believe that, then you are trusting works. What keeps you saved is the same thing that got you saved, the Blood of Jesus Christ. Claim the promise in I John 1:7, and go to I John 1:9 and claim forgiveness. If the devil can't defeat you with that, then he'd have you believe that God doesn't love you. I read this in another sermon, and I think most christian fit here, we think that God loves some preacher or missionary better than he loves us, or some other servant of the Lord. Hey, God is no respecter of persons. He cares for all of His own. God's promises are for me, a child of God. ( Ps.46:1-2 ) ( Ps. 121:1-2 ) Fear thou not, We have God's wonderful promises, amen?

IV. I will Hold You.
I will uphold you, I will hold you up when you feel like falling. He will keep you by His power, I believe we have the promise that He will preserve us and protect us. Safety. Safety is of the Lord. The fear of what others think or do causes many not to serve the Lord. Young people fear to surrender to the Lord because they fear what their peers will think of them. Co-workers will not witness to the lost for fear of being ridiculed. Family members fear rejection and embarrassment because of unsaved loves ones. God says he will help and hold you up and He will protect you. You can't control how others act, but don't be afraid to stand up for Christ. Just remember that the Lord has promised to help us. The fear of man brings a snare, don't let people keep you from witnessing for Christ. I've been out soul winning, in nice areas of town and in not so nice areas, there have been times I was treated rudely, and unkind words were said to me. I haven't been physically threatened or hurt. There is always a fear of what is behind the next door, but the Lord said, " and Lo, I will be with you.." I remember a story told of an atheist who stood on a platform in a large auditorium full of people. He stood to denounce Christianity and the Bible. He continued with his blasphemous speech for several minutes, then from the top of the balcony stood a little girl. She began to sing; " Stand up, stand up for Jesus, ye soldiers of the cross, lift high His royal banner, it must not suffer loss! " All of a sudden, others stood to join in the singing. " From victory unto victory, His army shall He lead, Till every foe is vanquished, and Christ is Lord indeed. " By the end of the song, every person in the house was standing, with tears in their eyes, singing with the little girl. Then someone noticed the speaker was gone. Someone asked, " When did he leave? " When the little girl stood up to sing, " Stand up for Jesus!" Fear thou not! I will uphold you. Fear thou not. ( Vs 10 ) We have the promise of His Presence, Person, Power, Promises and His Protection. Don't be afraid Christian, Just Stand up for Jesus, Stand in His strength alone!

God bless,
Pastor Taylor