“Wherefore I put thee in remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my hands.
7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.” (2Timothy 1:6-7)
The prevailing thought permeating the world today, and even the body of professing Christians. is one of fear -- fear of the unknown. Franklin Roosevelt said that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. Fear of the unknown is an unreasonable fear. Fear is often incapacitating.
The Bible says, “Fear not.” in one form or another 170 times. That works out to a little less than once every two days. The first mention of the exact words -- fear not -- is in Genesis 15:1 where the Lord tells Abram to fear not for the Lord is his shield and his exceeding great reward. The shield is often referred to as a shield of faith. Faith should expel fear. Faith should deflect fear. Faith should dominate fear and send it packing down the road. The shield of faith shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. GLORY! Satan started out as a minister of fear. He made Sister Eve afraid that God was holding back on her in the garden. “Ye shall be as Gods knowing good and evil.” You only know good right now. There is a whole lot out there that you don’t know and it’s scary stuff. Just eat this grape and your eyes will be open to the good AND the evil.
In the last days, men’s hearts shall be failing them for FEAR. (Luke 21:26) Fear of the unknown. Things that they don’t know much about but are willing to be “instructed by” the press that knows little more than the man on the street. (Who gleans his minor knowledge from the world wide web -- a source of largely unverified information.) I am surprised at the number of people who never studied science beyond grade school that are now experts on virology. My high school Science teacher defined expert like this. X is an unknown, and a spurt is a drip under pressure.
Are you a born again Christian, bought by the blood of Jesus Christ? You have nothing to fear. NOTHING! If you die, you get delivered to Heaven -- not purgatory -- Heaven. The Bible says so.
Another fear I hear mentioned by Christians is that the vaccination for the Covid virus could be a way to get a computer chip implanted into the body. IF you are truly born again, FEAR NOT. The mark of the beast does not come into existence until the Tribulation, and the rapture of the Church, the body of Christ precedes the Tribulation. Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom, and the Church is his bride. Christ is not a wife beater -- he loves his Bride, and died for her.
The reason you know that the mark of the beast does not apply to the Christian is that the Church is caught away in Revelation 4 and is not mentioned until well past Revelation 13 where the mark of the beast is revealed. Here is Rev 13:16-18.
“And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads:
17 And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, or the name of the beast, or the number of his name.
18 Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast: for it is the number of a man; and his number is Six hundred threescore and six.”
God put a mark on Cain that everyone could see - even those without a computer chip scanning device. Bible study will show you that the mark will come after the start of the Tribulation. It is connected to the antichrist and applies primarily to the nation of Israel. If you are saved before the rapture, you will be gone from earth before the tribulation. FEAR NOT, little flock. (Luke 12:32) You will be at the Judgment Seat of Christ in heaven awaiting the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, to come back with Christ at his second coming at the beginning of the millennium.
FEAR NOT! Believe the Bible. Trust the God of the Bible and keep pressing on in faith, not fearing because perfect love casteth out fear.
Brother Keith
