Gen 26:24, And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham." 
	Last time, we began our discussion of the fact that we are to have no fear in this realm. We are not to fear whatever mankind can do to us, neither are we to fear any of the earthly natural disasters or catastrophes. As well, we are not to fear any of the unknowns or what if’s of this life. 
We read through various scriptures in an attempt to encourage ourselves in the fact that when we fear, we are setting aside all that God has done for us in Jesus Christ. We are actually elevating ourselves and our fears in an idolatrous manner over the truth of His Divine protection and comfort and help.
	We want to continue this morning with one of the most prolific prophetic writers of the Old Testament concerning the fact that we have nothing to fear. Isaiah greatly heartens us in the certainty that God will see us through everything that is brought into our lives. Keep in mind that this was before the Son of God came to this earth to save us and then give us the gift of the Holy Spirit as our helper, as we read in John 14:26+27. "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all that I said to you. "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, nor let it be fearful. 
	Listen to the heart of God as declared by Isaiah in Chapter 41:13-15. "For I am the Lord your God, who upholds your right hand, Who says to you, 'Do not fear, I will help you.' "Do not fear, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel; I will help you," declares the Lord, "and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. "Behold, I have made you a new, sharp threshing sledge with double edges; You will thresh the mountains, and pulverize them, And will make the hills like chaff. 
Please note the fact that God takes this issue of fear with great seriousness because of what idolatry and doubt and anguish  puts between God and man. This is not a statement of suggested behavior for us to consider as a possible manner of living on this earth. It is a demand that we must not fear. It is a direct stipulation from the heart of God to the heart of man to trust Him in everything. 
	In this declaration of what we need to do in obedience unto God is the promise and the reality that God is our redeemer and our helper. He does not expect us to set aside all the fears of this human life just because He tells us that we should. He makes it very clear that He is the One taking those fears upon Himself, if we will just turn to Him and seek Him and trust Him. He does not expect us to be able to face the every issue of this life in our human understanding and strength. He assures us that He will be there to uphold and to make us all that He needs us to be on this earth.
	Isa 43:1+2, But now, thus says the Lord, your Creator, O Jacob, And He who formed you, O Israel, "Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name; you are Mine! "When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched, Nor will the flame burn you. 
In this tremendous passage, we are given the Word of God that He will be with us through all that we undergo on this earth. Not only will He help us, but He will stand with us as we face every trial and situation and circumstance. He will go through it all with us in a most personal manner. 
This is not the encouragement of a monarch to hearten and to stir his soldiers as they prepare for eminent battle. This is the promise of the Father to His children, to you and me, that He will be with us, in the most personal and living manner, as we face the realities of each and every day. He knows us by name and He knows us by heart. He is dealing with you and with me in a way that more and more perfectly serves to reveal Himself to us face-to-face and heart to heart.  
	Isaiah continues with the fact that God not only knows us, but since He created us, and chose us unto Himself, He will bless us with all the reality of His power and His grace and His mercy upon even our descendents. Isa 44:2-4, Thus says the Lord who made you And formed you from the womb, who will help you,' Do not fear, O Jacob My servant; And you Jeshurun whom I have chosen. 'For I will pour out water on the thirsty land And streams on the dry ground; I will pour out My Spirit on your offspring, And My blessing on your descendants; And they will spring up among the grass Like poplars by streams of water.' 
	The reason for our not allowing fear to hinder the course of our testimony is that we know God in all His righteousness. Because we do so know Him, we have no fear of those who do not know and love Him. In the reality of His Holiness and His Righteousness, we are blessed with the complete assurance of His hand upon our lives. We are not ignorant of the reality of God, neither are we fooled by all the wanton disregard of Him that festers in this world. Rather, we count on Him and rely on Him and rejoice in Him despite all that this age puts forth in its scorn and denunciation of the value of right-standing before the throne of God. Isa 51:7+8, "Listen to Me, you who know righteousness, A people in whose heart is My law; Do not fear the reproach of man, Neither be dismayed at their revilings. "For the moth will eat them like a garment, And the grub will eat them like wool. But My righteousness shall be forever, And My salvation to all generations." 
	Finally, Isaiah brings us full circle to the truth that since God is the Almighty Creator of Heaven and Earth and since He has promised to be with us and to save us and to keep us unto Himself, we need to honor Him and to declare that we are His people on this earth, no matter how unpopular or dangerous that may seem. Please turn to Isa 51:12-16 and let us read it together. Isa 51:12-16, "I, even I, am He who comforts you. Who are you that you are afraid of man who dies, And of the son of man who is made like grass; That you have forgotten the Lord your Maker, Who stretched out the heavens, And laid the foundations of the earth; That you fear continually all day long because of the fury of the oppressor, As he makes ready to destroy? But where is the fury of the oppressor? "The exile will soon be set free, and will not die in the dungeon, nor will his bread be lacking. "For I am the Lord your God, who stirs up the sea and its waves roar (the Lord of hosts is His name). "And I have put My words in your mouth, and have covered you with the shadow of My hand, to establish the heavens, to found the earth, and to say to Zion, 'You are My people.'" 
	One of the key aspects of this passage is facing that fear which many of us have of publicly stating what the Lord wants us to say. In my studies in education, one of the greatest fears that plague all mankind, in general, is that of public speaking. There is something about talking in front of people, whether in a small intimate arrangement or before a large audience that utterly terrifies the vast population of humanity. Be it the thought of making a fool of oneself, or the idea that one does not have anything pertinent to say, or simply such a deep seated dread of trying to put together several words in a coherent manner, we are afraid to speak in a public setting. But even that fear is addressed by God in this passage. "And I have put My words in your mouth… 
	When we are to speak, we are to count on the Lord to give us the courage and the fortitude and the wisdom and the ability to declare His Word in His name. We do not dare speak on His behalf unless it is given to us by God, Himself, through the ministry of the Holy Spirit. There is no greater dread that should infest us than to speak in His name those things which are not of Him. But, when He does give us utterance, we are not to fear to proclaim, with all fervor and strength the full truth in the confident assurance that His Word is what we proclaim to His glory alone.
	Our Lord Jesus Christ brings us back to the crux of the situation in Luke 12:29-32. "And do not seek what you shall eat, and what you shall drink, and do not keep worrying. "For all these things the nations of the world eagerly seek; but your Father knows that you need these things. "But seek for His kingdom, and these things shall be added to you. "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has chosen gladly to give you the kingdom. 
It is a glorious truth to consider that we have been given the kingdom, in its entirety, in Jesus Christ. We really do not have to worry about anything or to fear what will happen to us, when we come to the place where we trust God entirely with our lives on this earth. He will provide all that is needed. The key is that we do trust Him and seek Him above all else. It is back to that aspect of choosing to trust Him or to trust in ourselves, with which we so often struggle on this earth.
	The Writer to the Hebrews confronts this straight on in Heb 13:5+6. Let your character be free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, "I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you," so that we confidently say, "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What shall man do to me?" When we get caught up in the worldly cares and concerns, we lose the contentment that is ours as those who look to God to provide. We begin to think that we deserve more than we have and begin to fear that we are not receiving all that could be ours if we were more earnestly pursuing the things of this age. We think that we are missing out on those things that everyone else has in this realm. Therefore, we begin to grouse and to complain and to think that what we have been given by God is not enough. We lose sight of the fact that we have been given everything in Jesus Christ our Lord as we begin to desire the treasures of this realm over the riches of God. 
	This often leads to that which is highlighted by the Apostle Paul in Rom 8:15-17. For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him in order that we may also be glorified with Him. Fear of not getting what we think we deserve is a spirit of slavery that must be dealt with severely in our hearts and minds. This is one of the reasons that we so often find that we must suffer with Christ, in order that our perspective of what is truly important, His life in us, becomes the increasing focal point of our every heart’s desire. The things of this age, and the fear that is embedded in them, are all set aside as we are brought into a living relationship with God in Jesus Christ.
	As the Apostle goes on to so fully expound and proclaim later in this chapter 8, verses 38+39, For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. There is that confident assurance that is ours as we come into this heart-to-heart relationship of love and trust. We realize that we truly have nothing to fear because nothing, absolutely nothing can remove us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. 
As well, the Apostle John assures us that we have nothing to fear because God so loved us. As we come into that living relationship with Jesus, we will find that we are made more and more definitely expressions of the love of God to others. 1 John 4:17-19, By this, love is perfected with us, that we may have confidence in the day of judgment; because as He is, so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves punishment, and the one who fears is not perfected in love. We love, because He first loved us. 
The every course of our day-to-day life on this earth is a living expression of the love of God to others. In that fullness of Christ, we are delivered from fear because we experience God’s active and fruitful love operating in us every moment as we trust and obey. All the elements that would cause fear and trembling of judgment and punishment are set aside in that abiding and glorious love of God.
	And, finally, in the person of Jesus Christ, we are fully released from the fear of death. As we so triumphantly read in Rev 1:17+18, And when I saw Him, I fell at His feet as a dead man. And He laid His right hand upon me, saying, "Do not be afraid; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of death and of Hades. 
The fear of death has no more hold over us since we are fully part of Christ, the living expression of His love on this earth. We are joined to Him in all the joy and truth and surety of His conquering resurrection. We have been placed into the realm in which fear has no more jurisdiction over us in its binding chains of slavery. Therefore, we are able to rejoice and to celebrate and to freely proclaim the goodness and the grace of God to all those in our lives. Fear is gone and we are blessed in Christ forevermore. So be it.
And the Lord appeared to him the same night and said, "I am the God of your father Abraham; Do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you, and multiply your descendants, For the sake of My servant Abraham." Amen.

This morning’s benediction is Ps 113:1-3. Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord. Praise the name of the Lord. Blessed be the name of the Lord From this time forth and forever. From the rising of the sun to its setting The name of the Lord is to be praised. Amen.