December 8, 2024
Presenter: Rev. Dr. JoAnne P. King
Sermon: Love Has Everything To Do With Abolishing Fear!
Praise the Lord and Good Morning Saints! I remember some years ago preaching a sermon entitled: “What’s Love Got to Do with It; Everything! At the time, “What’s Love Got to Do with It,” was a popular song. Even, a movie came out with the same title. Well, my message hasn’t changed: “What’s Love Got to Do with It; Everything! In this series, “Love Has Everything to Do with Abolishing Fear.”
In reading the Bible, God tells us many times in His Word, “Fear Not!” God’s original plan for our lives was to live free from fear.
Faith and fear are like a compass. On a compass, you have directions—north, south, east and west. They are all directions but they are not the same. Well, faith and fear are like north and south but they are in opposite directions of one another. Faith is like north and connected to God and the law of love and life. Fear is like south and connected to Satan and the law of sin and death.
When God made Adam in the Trinity’s image, he was connected to God and made to dominate and rule the earth. God doesn’t have a spirit of fear; therefore, Adam didn’t have a spirit of fear either. You can’t dominate and rule the earth with a spirit of fear. This is supported by 2 Tim. 1:7 Amp.: “For God did not give us a spirit of timidity or cowardice or fear, but [He has given us a Spirit] of power, and of love, and a sound judgment and personal discipline [abilities that result in a calm, well-balanced mind and self-control].”
God’s gift to us consisted of 1) Spirit of boldness (Rom. 8:15 Amp.) = “For ye have not received a spirit of slavery leading again to fear [of God’s judgment] but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons [the Spirit producing sonship] by which we joyfully cry, “Abba! Father!”
2) Spirit of power (1 Cor. 16:10 Amp.) = “If Timothy comes, see to it that [you put him at ease, so that] he has nothing to fear in regard to you; for he is [devotedly] doing the Lord’s work, just as I am.” 3) Spirit of Love ((1 Cor. 13:4 Amp.) = “Love endures with patience and serenity, love, is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is not proud or arrogant.” 4) Spirit of sound mind, understanding, and judgment (Gal. 5:22-23 Amp.) = “But the fruit of the Spirit [the result of His presence within us] is love [unselfish concern for others], joy [inner] peace, patience [not the ability to wait but how we act while waiting], kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
When sin entered the world, so did fear. Fear’s primary objective in our lives is to create unbelief, which is believing something other than what God has said about any situation. [This is the same trick Satan pulled on Eve when he asked: “Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?”] His question even contained a lie but that didn’t really matter to him. All he wanted her to do was to question or doubt God.] And that’s what he wants you to do. When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, they immediately became unconnected to God and connected to Satan and the Law of sin, fear and death. You know they were fearful because at the sound of God’s voice, they ran and hid themselves from His presence. From their disobedience, sin and death came on all mankind thereafter.
God’s answer to the law of sin and death was when we accepted Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we were joined or connected to God (Love) and the Law of love and life. At this time as mentioned above, God did not give us a spirit of fear but of power, of love and a sound mind. On the other hand, when one is disconnected or never connected to God, then the person is connected to Satan and the Law of sin, fear and death. Saints, always remember that fear is not in your heart (Spirit). Fear comes to and out of you through your ear-gates, eye-gates and mouth-gates.
It is possible today to live free from fear but we must learn how to fight fear and win God’s way. In this world, we will always be given the opportunity to be gripped with fear, to be paralyzed by fear, lose sleep because of fear, to be riddled with anxiety because of fear, and to be controlled by fear.
Christians were never meant to be controlled or affected by fear at all. We were meant to walk in faith, to walk by faith, to deal with what life throws our way with faith. However, if we don’t learn how to fight fear and win, it will contaminate our faith. I have heard it said over and over again that fear is faith contaminated!
There is only one way to defeat fear and that is to walk the opposite of fear and that is to walk in love. In 1 John 4:18 Amp., it says: “There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full grown) love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love].
We need to know what the ingredients or characteristics of perfected or divine love are? There are nine ingredients or characteristics of divine love, they are: 1) Patience – love passive; no hurry; suffers long; bears, believes, hopes and endures all things. 2) Kindness – love in action; never acts rashly or insolently; not inconsistent, puffed up, or proud. 3) Generosity – love in competition; not envious or jealous. 4) Humility – love in hiding; no parade; no airs; works then retires. 5) Courtesy – love in society; does not behave unseemly; always polite; at home with all classes; never rude or discourteous. 6) Unselfishness – love in essence; never selfish, sour, or bitter; seeks only good of others; does not retaliate or seek revenge. 7) Good temper – love in disposition: never irritated; never resentful. 8) Righteousness – love in conduct hates sin; never glad when others go wrong; always gladdened by goodness to others; always slow to expose; always eager to believe the best; always hopeful, always enduring. 9) Sincerity – love in profession; never boastful and conceited; not a hypocrite; always honest; leaves no impression but what is strictly true; never self-assertive; does not blaze out in passionate anger, nor brood over wrongs; always just, joyful, and truthful; knows how to be silent; full of trust; always present. Therefore, we need to develop all of the above ingredients and characteristics of divine love.
Love abolishes fear. In Galatians 5:6 Amp., “For [if we are] in Jesus Christ neither circumcision nor uncircumcision means anything, but only faith activated and expressed and working through love”
Remember, God loves us as much as He loves Jesus. If you have a hard time believing this, try saying this over and over again until you get it into your Spirit (John 17:23 Amp.). “I in them, and You in Me, that they may be perfected and completed into one, so that the world may know [without any doubt] that You sent Me and [that You] have loved them, just as You have loved Me.”
Let me be clear, love is the driving force that flushes out all fear, so, the more we are filled with love, the more we receive love. The more we walk in love, speak in love, and extend love—fear cannot operate in our lives to influence our reactions, responses, emotions or wreck our thinking. Why? Because we know who God (Love) is and to whom we belong!
Love doesn’t overcome fear automatically in our lives. We have to develop it. We have to develop faith in love. Anything worth having is worth working for! That’s what this series is all about, helping you to develop faith in the love of God that abolishes fear; that brings the Blessing; that brings Covenant power; no failures when you walk in love; and mountain moving faith that is fueled by love.
The first step in developing love is to understand who Love is. First John 4:7-8 tells us that God is love—which means He doesn’t have love, He is Love. If we read these verses with that in mind, we could read it this way—and it gives us a fresh and clear understanding: “Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God (Love). Anyone who loves is a child of God (Love) and knows God (Love). But anyone who does not love does not know God (Love) for God (Love) is love.”
If you approach the Word of God with this in mind, it changes the way you think of God and the way we relate to Him.
Consider John 1:1 through this lens: “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God (Love), and the Word was God (Love).”
Read John 1:14 in the same way, “The Word (Love) became flesh and made His dwelling among us.”
I want you from now on to read the Scriptures that tells you something about God in this way. It will transform the way you see God (Love) and increase your understanding of Him and who He is. God is Love and Love is God. They are one and the same. You cannot separate them. Love Abolishes Fear.
The second step is to develop faith in Love. In 1 John 4:18 Amp., we learn that “There is no fear in love [dread does not exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because fear involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient understanding of God’s love].
When we say that perfect love casts out fear, we mean that we don’t manage it; by trying to pretend it doesn’t exist or put our minds on something else, etc. It doesn’t cope with it by trying to get along with it or appease it in some manner. It does not try to cover it up by disguising it or calling it by some other name. It does not tolerate it—because fear has torment. What is that torment? Fear can stop us from working, going places or entering into a relationship with others. Remember, God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power … use that power to cast out or rebuke the spirit of fear.
For instance, a student studies for an exam. Hour after hour is spent in reading, memorizing and writing. He is ready to take the exam. Then the day finally comes for the exam. He sits down and reads the first question and fear paralyzes his mind. All of a sudden it seems as though he cannot remember. The student has these thoughts. I am not prepared or I haven’t studied enough.
Thoughts of doubt fill his mind. What has happened? He still has the knowledge in him but fear is blocking his ability to focus on the answer and put it on paper. The only thing between the knowledge in his mind and an “A” on the exam is fear.
Many times, the only thing between the faith in us and the answer to our situation is fear. Whatever it is that we are frightened of, we don’t have to be. We can develop faith in Love, which overcomes fear in all its’ forms.
A mature Saint developed in love, would not allow the thoughts of doubt to enter into his ear gates to fill his mind with doubt during his exam. He would immediately cast those thoughts out and write his exam and obtain his “A” for the course.
We need to remember, when we were first born again, God who is love, came to live on the inside of you. At that time, we became indwelt with love. Romans 5:5 says: “For we know how dearly God (Love) loves us, because He (Love) has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love.”
From this initial step of making Jesus the Lord of our lives, we are to grow. We are to mature. It’s a process, we never stop pursuing because as along as we are on this earth, we never stop growing. We are to continually exchange all of our ways of thinking, living, and loving with God’s ways. We are to be transformed from the inside out. Romans 12:2 Amp. says, “And do not be conformed to this world (any longer with its superficial values and customs), but be transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually] by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of God (Love) is, that which is good, acceptable and perfect [in His plan and purpose for you]. We often refer to this Scripture as renewing our minds, and as we practice it, faith moves in and abolishes any attempts for fear to be entertained.
Developing a relationship with Love begins with making Him our Lord and Savior; it continues as we renew our minds. Renewing our minds happens as we read and study the Word of God; as we exchange our thoughts, perspectives, and attitudes to Love’s. We are developing and maturing our faith.
Mark 11:22 says: “To have faith in God.” If God is love, and He is, then we could read this verse to say, “Have faith in Love.” Fear is having faith in death. In fact, the fear of death is the greatest of all fears; It’s having faith in the law of sin and death.
When Adam sinned in the Garden of Eden, Satan obtained the keys of death. When Jesus was crucified and went down into hell, He took the keys of death from Satan! So, there isn’t any need for a Saint of God to fear death! Having faith in Love, and by developing love in our lives, Love abolishes Fear. Praise God! Saints, we must believe the Word of Love.
The third step in developing love is realizing that faith is the opposite of fear. We can believe Love and the Word of Love, or we can believe fear and all the words of fear, we hear, see and/or speak. How many times do we speak words of fear and death when we say things like, “That just kills me.” or “I was laughing to death?” Always remember, the Word tells us that “life and death are in the power of the tongue,” meaning in the words we speak (Proverbs 18:21).
It’s time to get fear out of our vocabulary. For example, it’s time to eliminate using words that don’t produce faith—words such as incredible or fantastic. Incredible means something has no credibility. People don’t usually mean it that way when they say it. However, the devil doesn’t judge us according to what we mean. He judges us according to what the word means—and it’s something we don’t want in our lives. We want what’s credible in our lives. Like, God’s Word and His many attributes—love, goodness, kindness, patience and faith and on we could go.
Fantastic is another example. People don’t mean any harm when they say, “Wow, that was a fantastic message,” but it’s the wrong use of the word. Fantastic means fantasy and can’t be believed. A message preached based on the Word of God can be believed. It’s credible. It’s true. It’s worthy of honor and application in your life.
The point is to think about what we say and the true meaning of the words we speak because we want to be speaking life, not death (Proverbs 18:21). We want to always speak faith, and not fear.
Fear comes by hearing and hearing the words of death. But faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God (Love). Or, with the understanding that God is Love and Love is God, we could say, “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of Love.” And then it speaks; faith speaks (2 Cor. 4:13). What does faith speak? Faith, and Love.
We all want the power of God in our lives, but the Bible doesn’t major on God’s power—it majors on His love. If it wasn’t for God’s love, we would never know about His power! It was because Love loved that He exercised His mighty power in the earth. It was compassion that moved Jesus when He healed the sick and fed the multitudes with a young boy’s lunch (Matthew 14:19). “Jesus saw the huge crowd as he stepped from the boat, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick” (Matthew 14:14).
Saints, it is wise to rebuke fear, to cast it out in the name of Jesus, to resist it, to stand against it, but it is the practice of love that defeats fear in our lives—because Love Abolishes Fear. We practice love when we love others with Love’s love.
First, we love God, and out of Love’s love, we love others. Saints, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God (Love). Anyone who loves is a child of God (Love) and knows God (Love). But anyone who does not love does not know God (Love), for God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).
It was Jesus who said: “You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.” This is the first and greatest commandment. A second is equally important: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments” (Matthew 22:37-40). This is the commandment of Love. It’s so easy to practice anger, to practice unforgiveness, to practice impatience, to practice stress and busyness and anxiety. But how much better it is to replace all that with practicing love. Today, start practicing loving others with Love’s love that He has filled you with.
You may still be thinking that it is difficult not to have fear. I want to call your attention to some people in the Old Testament who didn’t have fear. What about Daniel who put his trust in God and refused to pray to the idol god but only to his God! This resulted in him being thrown in a lion’s den but he had faith in his God. He went to sleep in the lion’s den and they didn’t bother him. God shut their mouths!!
What about the three Hebrew boys that they threw in the furnace heated three times hotter than necessary. Jesus joined them in the furnace and they didn’t even smell of smoke! They had faith in their God and He delivered them. At this time, the Trinity wasn’t dwelling in them.
Each of you born again Saints unlike Daniel and the three Hebrew Boys have the Trinity dwelling in you, ready, willing and able to come to your defense. All you have to do is exercise your faith, your mouth and heart connection while walking in love and see the results—fear is driven out.
In closing, remember God hasn’t given us a spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound mind. Fear’s primary objective in our lives is to create unbelief, which is believing something other than what God has said about any situation. So, watch for a spirit of deception when you are praying and asking for whatever it is that you are believing God for. Once you hear something negative coming against what you are believing; you know this is from the devil and throw it out of your mind. The enemy (devil) is trying to contaminate your faith.
How do we defeat fear? We defeat fear by walking the opposite of fear and that is walking in love. Because faith works by love, love never fails therefore, love overcomes fear!
When we are being filled with God’s love, loving Him and loving others comes with a promise, we all want to see come to pass in our lives: “Those who accept my commandments and obey them are the ones who love me. And because they love me, My Father will love them. And I will love them and reveal Myself to each of them” (John 14:21). Don’t you want God (Love) to reveal himself to you??? Then, get and stay on your love walk.
Love functioned in and through Jesus. Now, God (Love) dwells in us and wants to function in and through us. So, Love God, Love people, practice Love and watch what God (Love) does in our lives as Love Abolishes Fear. Amen, and Amen.