To the Children of Israel getting ready to go into the Promised Land -
Deuteronomy 20:1 When thou goest out to battle against thine enemies, and seest horses, and chariots, and a people more than thou, be not afraid of them: for the LORD thy God is with thee, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
- God told them that they would face horses and chariots.
- God reminded them what happened the last time horses and chariots fought against them at the Red Sea
- Don’t be afraid when someone who is your enemy wants to hurt you.
To Joshua getting ready to fight against Jericho –
Joshua 1:9 Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.
- The Israelite army without any trained soldiers or superior weapons conquered an impossible city.
- Don’t be afraid when you are facing an impossible situation.
To Elijah about to face the wicked king of Israel –
2 Kings 1:15 And the angel of the LORD said unto Elijah, Go down with him: be not afraid of him. And he arose, and went down with him unto the king.
- God had demonstrated His power to protect Elijah away from the wicked king Ahaziah, but now He was being told to go stand face to face with him.
- Don’t be afraid when you have to stand face to face before a wicked leader.
To King Hezekiah when the king of Assyria threatened to destroy the nation of Israel –
2 Kings 19:6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say to your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
- Rab-shakeh, the Assyrian king’s servant, insulted God and made fun of the people for worshipping Him.
- Then he threatened to destroy them.
- Don’t be afraid when you are threatened by someone who wants to hurt you.
To King Jehoshaphat when he was about to be destroyed by three armies much larger than his –
2 Chronicles 20:15 And he said, Hearken ye, all Judah, and ye inhabitants of Jerusalem, and thou king Jehoshaphat, Thus saith the LORD unto you, Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God’s.
- When the people began to sing and praise God, God fought the battle for them.
- Don’t be afraid when there are more people against you than for you.
To King Hezekiah when Sennacherib king of Assyria came with a much larger army to destroy Jerusalem –
2 Chronicles 32:7 Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him:
2 Chronicles 32:8 With him is an arm of flesh; but with us is the LORD our God to help us, and to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.
- The “arm of flesh” seemed stronger, and indeed was stronger than Hezekiah’s army, but the enemy wasn’t fighting against Hezekiah – they were fighting against God.
- Don’t be afraid when your enemy appears to be stronger and to have more resources than you.
To all who have anything to be afraid of –
Proverbs 3:25 Be not afraid of sudden fear, neither of the desolation of the wicked, when it cometh.
Proverbs 3:26 For the LORD shall be thy confidence, and shall keep thy foot from being taken.
- There is no need to worry about the unexpected.
- One person said, “Worrying works great for me. 95% of the things I worry about never happen.”
- Don’t be afraid even when you have a justifiable reason to be afraid; Danger will come, but God will be there to meet it.
To Jeremiah the prophet when God called him to preach to a nation that wanted nothing to do with God –
Jeremiah 1:8 Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the LORD.
- Don’t be afraid when God calls you to do something harder than you think you can handle.
To Ezekiel the prophet when God called him to preach to Israel after they were taken as slaves to Babylon –
Ezekiel 2:6 And thou, son of man, be not afraid of them, neither be afraid of their words, though briers and thorns be with thee, and thou dost dwell among scorpions: be not afraid of their words, nor be dismayed at their looks, though they be a rebellious house.
- Three verses earlier – Ezekiel 2:3 And he said unto me, Son of man, I send thee to the children of Israel, to a rebellious nation that hath rebelled against me: they and their fathers have transgressed against me, even unto this very day.
- Don’t be afraid when God calls you to serve Him in a difficult situation.
When the disciples were in the middle of a stormy sea and thought they saw a ghost walking toward them on the water –
Matthew 14:27 But straightway Jesus spake unto them, saying, Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid.
- Jesus told the disciple to get in the boat and go to the other side of the sea in the middle of the night.
- Halfway across, a storm just about destroyed them.
- To make things worse, they thought they saw a ghost.
- It’s bad when one person thinks they see a ghost, but when all 12 of you see it – you know you’re in trouble.
- Then Jesus called Peter to walk out to Him on the water.
- Don’t be afraid when you are obeying God and you find yourself in the middle of a dangerous storm.
When Peter, James, and John had just realized they were in the presence of God on the mount of Transfiguration and had fallen on their faces –
Matthew 17:7 And Jesus came and touched them, and said, Arise, and be not afraid.
- They realized that when they were with Jesus they were in the presence of God.
- When Jesus spoke to them they understood that God’s love for them was so great that He wanted to be with them even though they were sinful men.
- Don’t be afraid when you become acutely aware of sin in your life; just continue growing your relationship with God.
When some of the disciples had seen the empty tomb and were worried and confused –
Matthew 28:10 Then said Jesus unto them, Be not afraid: go tell my brethren that they go into Galilee, and there shall they see me.
- All hope was gone.
- The man they had left everything to follow had been killed and his body was missing.
- Suddenly Jesus appeared to them and changed everything!
- Don’t be afraid when the future seems hopeless.
When encouraging the disciples to bravely face persecution –
Luke 12:4 And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
- Don’t be afraid when standing for what you know is right.
When Paul the Apostle arrived in Corinth and God wanted him to stay for a while and start a church –
Acts 18:9 Then spake the Lord to Paul in the night by a vision, Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace:
- Don’t be afraid when the ministry God leads you to either doesn’t make sense or is frowned upon by others.
To all those who suffer or are persecuted or are terrorized for their faith –
1Peter 3:14 But and if ye suffer for righteousness’ sake, happy are ye: and be not afraid of their terror, neither be troubled;
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- Peter’s brother, James, had already been murdered for being a Christian.
- Many others in Peter’s life had suffered and died for their faith.
- Jesus had explained to Peter that he would also die as a martyr.
- Not only was Peter calm, but he was happy.
- Don’t be afraid when you are called upon to suffer for the cause of Christ.
