Fear Not - Your Enemy
Scripture Reading - Joshua 10:24-26 KJV
(24) And it came to pass, when they brought out those kings unto Joshua, that Joshua called for all the men of Israel, and said unto the captains of the men of war which went with him, Come near, put your feet upon the necks of these kings. And they came near, and put their feet upon the necks of them. (25) And Joshua said unto them, Fear not, nor be dismayed, be strong and of good courage: for thus shall the LORD do to all your enemies against whom ye fight. (26) And afterward Joshua smote them, and slew them, and hanged them on five trees: and they were hanging upon the trees until the evening.
Greetings fellow believer in the Awesome Name of Jesus may God’s Grace smile upon you this day while he fills you with all Peace. Today we will continue in our “Fear Not” series. In a previous lesson we highlighted the fact that worry comes from fear. If we can remove the fear from the situation, event, circumstance, sickness, government, leadership, person, etc. . . we will also remove the worry associated with that fear. Thank God through Jesus Christ we can remove the fear. According 1 John 4:18, “There is no fear in love but perfect (mature, sincere, pure, untainted) love casts out fear.” In another previous lesson we mentioned that we don’t need to fear protection primarily for two reasons: one - God is always with us and two - The Lord’s ministering spirits known as the angels of God that are encamped round about us continuously. The key is knowing divine help is always available and acknowledging God in all our ways so He can direct our paths. In a previous lesson we looked at not fearing a lack of provision because you are a child of God. Yes, your Heavenly Father greatly delights in you because He loves you so much. His desire is to not only feed you naturally but His Will is that you are well fed both spiritually and physically having more than what you need for that specific meal. In another previous lesson we discussed not fearing the curse(s) of the Law because The Blessing(s) of God are promised to the children of God. Yes, in Christ Jesus we are redeemed from the curses of the Law. The Blessing is twofold: 1) - We inherited all The Blessings of the Law as children of God while at the same time 2) - We were (and are) promised complete deliverance from all the curses of the Law, so there is no need to fear. We also shared about not fearing relocation because God is with us and we can communicate with God anything and everything that concerns us. In these times of trouble and conflict we covered not fearing war. This means even the threat of war should not make us afraid because we have God with us individually before, during and after war. In today’s lesson we will highlight not fearing “your enemies”. This is a very different teaching than the one about war because in war you are fighting against men who you might think are your enemies but that is not always the case. Typically, in war you are fighting for a cause so maybe people you are fighting against hate you and are truly your enemy or maybe they don’t hate you individually at all they are just fighting for a cause. Plus, in war there are even times where a believer might have to kill another believer and they never knew that they are their brothers in Christ Jesus. The point being we (ihlcc) have heard of many situations where people are trained, equipped and ready to kill without a deep hatred for the people on the other side of the war. Please remember God is The God over all the earth, for there is no “war” in God’s Heaven. Thus, an enemy is involved but you may not be fighting him if you don’t understand spiritual warfare. We do have enemies on two levels. We have certain people on the earth that just don’t like you whether that happened because of something you did or they just simply don’t like you they are considered a natural enemy. The people who fit into that category in your life should be few. It is not God’s will for most of the people you know to be against you, as an enemy because if that is the case you probably need to do some self-evaluation to determine the cause. All Christians are called to love others and yes, we know some will hate you simple because you are a Child of God (a Child of Love). When dealing with these earthly enemies it is very important that we follow the scripture found in Matthew 5:43-45 KJV which states, “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” These verses of scripture give us a clear picture of God’s Heart and it is His Will that we truly represent His Heart (His nature, His Character) inside of our heart while on the earth. This is vitally important because The Lord Jesus died for all mankind and it is also His will to have every man saved on the face of the earth. Sometimes these enemies may be in your home, in your neighborhood, in your family (including your extended family too), maybe even, God forbid, in the church. This is why God told us very practically what to do when dealing with a physical enemy. Let us also say, you may need to repeat the good (godly) behavior (actions) time and time again. If you consistently feed them God’s Fruit of Love you might even see some godly results but we are not guaranteed to see positive results with all of our enemies, even when we treat them right. Although we never look for our enemies to stir-up strife or try to be an enemy to someone else, they are still present around us because we have a spiritual enemy too who is looking to stir-up trouble. Since we have a spiritual enemy we must always remember our battle is not with flesh and blood but rather with spiritual entities that are present in this earth. Ephesians 6:12 KJV states, “For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” When dealing with our spiritual enemies instruction revealed in Ephesians 6:10-18 note several actions and attitudes: “Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might. Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (trickery) of the devil. Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having truth, and righteousness; And being prepared using the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And resting in (abiding in) salvation, and speaking and believing the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto with all perseverance and supplication for all saints”. This summaries God’s Will for us when dealing with our spiritual enemies so now we are covered on both realms. We know what to do concerning our few natural enemies and we also know what to do concerning our many spiritual enemies the key is now just doing it to receive victory over all our enemies both physically (on earth) and spiritually (in the atmosphere). Victory does not come automatically because you’re a Christian but rather we all must be doers of God’s Word consistently to gain the complete victory in Jesus Name. God’s Word works for all those who are letting God work in their life. “Amen!”