Aug. 09, 2026

Getting Rid of Fear 

(2026.08.09) Pastor John Custer

Introduction - This message is the last of three which I felt I was to address concerning our feelings and how to manage them.  The first two, thanks and trust have a very positive message.  This one deals with a common malady of our souls.  God did not make us to have us live in perpetual misery, but designed for us to enjoy the emotions of His Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.  Fear is a tormenting emotion: 

1 John 4:18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. NKJV

Fear is that unpleasant, strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger.  One of our strongest fears is the fear of death.  Even though it is our enemy, and it is still present in this age, we should not fear it, because Jesus has overcome it.  We are not speaking here of normal cautions which God put into our hearts to keep us from petting lions or walking off tall buildings, but of unreasonable fear of things of which we are masters.  

Hebrews 2:14-15 Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, so that through death He might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.  NASB

Fear was not even part of our human experience until sin entered the world at the fall of man.  Notice how Adam reacted after he chose to sin by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil:

Genesis 3 6-11 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes, and that the tree was desirable to make one wise, she took some of its fruit and ate; and she also gave some to her husband with her, and he ate. 7Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves waist coverings. Now they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the [b]cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the LORD God among the trees of the garden. 9Then the LORD God called to the man, and said to him, “Where are you?” 10He said, “I heard the sound of You in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself.” 11And He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?”  NASB

Since fear is unpleasant and tormenting, and since God came to free us from our greatest fear, how does He do this?  Is there a part we play in getting free from it?  Does God replace it with something we can anticipate and recognize?

The answers to those questions are partially answered in the verses above.  In 1 John 4 we are told that someone who fears is not “made perfect in love.”  These words are easily understood by understanding that “perfect” here means “mature.” So, some of the fear we experience is simply removed as we grow in understanding, just like a little child learns not to be afraid of the dark.  The dread of death I experienced as a little boy disappeared when I understood what heaven is like.  The eternal nature of a glorified body with no pain or sorrow completely overshadowed my concepts from Adam’s nature, which I was born with.  When we are new Christians, we will not be ready to face challenges like the heroes of the Bible did.   As we grow we will do exploits of the magnitude that Jesus did.  Moses at the Red Sea, Daniel in the lions den, and Noah building the ark are well known examples of matured men facing fearsome challenges.   It is probable that God’s greatest desire is for us to trust him, even to the point that we will perform extreme exploits, even in the face to death.  This is something we grow in over time.  

Another way fear is removed by starting a relationship with Jesus.  Hebrews 2 says that Jesus took on  a body of flesh so that through his death he would have the moral, legal, and physical power to destroy the devil, who brought death upon all of us by inducing us to sin.  The instant a person believes, the actual power of the devil is broken over him because the record of his sin is blotted out or washed away.  There is no longer any legal ground to inflict punishment upon him and the devil’s access to him becomes drastically reduced.  It is vitally important to fill our eyes and ears with testimonies about the Lord and His work. This happens through continuous fellowship with God’s people and continuous exposure to God’s words.  This is why it is so important to have godly friendships and stay connected to godly people.  Ungodly people carry the devil’s words around.  They have little to talk about except the devil’s lies and disinformation. 

Yet another way, maybe the most effective and certainly the first way God removes our fear is by displacing it.  

Proverbs 9:10-11  The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11 For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you.  NASB

The fear of the Lord is a greatly misunderstood concept.  We really want to make it palatable to our senses so we try every way to mollify it.  Surely God meant to “revere Him” or “respect Him.”  He couldn’t actually have meant “to be afraid of Him.” Note that in the Strongs’ concordance the Hebrew word for fear, yare, is translated 166 times as “fear” 100 times as “afraid” and 6 times as “terrified” or “terrifying” as contrasted to 46 times as “awe” “reverence” or “caution.”  That’s less that 1 out of 5 times that the word fear is softened to mean even close to what we hope it means.  We have to realize that God created us and owns us and that if we don’t obey Him, He can take our life.  Until you are convinced of that you have not reached the starting line for the acquiring of wisdom.  Your list of what is right and wrong and the consequences of not opening are all determined by you.  With no fear of God, there are no circumstances.  Everything is covered by grace. All your property is yours, your time is yours, your destiny is yours.  God will save you, but your earthly life will be weak and paltry.  

Conclusion - in this teaching, God is showing us the way to wisdom, which is the greatest treasure ever made available to any of us!  Wisdom is the key to life, health, wealth, peace of mind, long life, honor, favor with God, favor with man, happiness and abundant blessings, to make a very abbreviated list.  There are over 200 Scriptures extolling the praises of wisdom.  Here’s a small sample:

Proverb 4:5-9 Acquire wisdom! Acquire understanding! Do not forget nor turn away from the words of my mouth. 6“Do not abandon her, and she will guard you. Love her, and she will watch over you. 7 “The beginning of wisdom is: Acquire wisdom; And with all your possessions, acquire understanding. 8 “Prize her, and she will exalt you; She will honor you if you embrace her. 9 “She will place on your head a garland of grace;  She will present you with a crown of beauty.”

Let’s learn to embrace the fear of God! Live the good life!