1 Timothy 1:6-7 – 6Therefore I remind you to stir up the gift of God which is in you through the laying on of my hands. 7For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

I. Exposure Is the First and Oldest Fear in the Book

‍ Genesis 2:25 – And they were both naked, the man and his wife, and were not ashamed.

• Man’s first invention was a covering.

Genesis 3:7 – Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they knew that they were naked; and they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves coverings.

‍Genesis 3:10 – So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

‍ ‍• Your fig leaves are more sophisticated than theirs — but they do the same job.

II. What Concealment Costs You

1. It shrinks your assignment.

Exodus 4:10-12 – 10Then Moses said to the LORD, “O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” 11So the LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes the mute, the deaf, the seeing, or the blind? Have not I, the LORD? 12Now therefore, go, and I will be with your mouth and teach you what you shall say.”

‍ ‍2. It consumes you from the inside out.

IV. The Diagnostic Question

• The one question that cuts through every Groundless Fear

2 Corinthians 10:5 – Casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ.

• The Question is this: “What is this actually going to DO to me?”

• Does this fear have 1) the AGENCY, 2) the CAPACITY, and 3) the WILL to actually perform this unwanted act against me?

1) IS IT TRUE?

2) IS IT NOW?

3) IS IT MINE?

Galatians 6:7 – Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap.

John 10:10 – The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.

I. The First Deception of Good – “The Road Seems Right”

Proverbs 22:3 – A prudent man foresees evil and hides himself, But the simple pass on and are punished.

GOOD FEAR…1) protects you, 2) keeps you safe, and 3) buys you a longer life most of the time.

• If you stay on it long enough, it builds a “Good Man.”

Mark 10:17-22 – 17Now as He was going out on the road, one came running, knelt before Him, and asked Him, “Good Teacher, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?” 18So Jesus said to him, “Why do you call Me good? No one is good but One, that is, God. 19You know the commandments: ‘Do not commit adultery,’ ‘Do not murder,’ ‘Do not steal,’ ‘Do not bear false witness,’ ‘Do not defraud,’ ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ ” 20And he answered and said to Him, “Teacher, all these things I have kept from my youth.” 21Then Jesus, looking at him, loved him, and said to him, “One thing you lack: Go your way, sell whatever you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, take up the cross, and follow Me.” 22But he was sad at this word, and went away sorrowful, for he had great possessions.

• The Deception – That Good Feels Like Enough

Proverbs 14:12 – There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

− The word is right – not evil, filthy, or wicked – RIGHT.

‍ ‍The Obvious Hidden Truth: This world does not run on truth. It runs on deception!

Jeremiah 17:9 – The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; Who can know it?

Proverbs 3:5 – Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding.

THE FEAR FACTOR: God Fear – Part 2

Proverbs 9:10 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

THE CHAIN: Dominion (Your choice) → God (Truth as Source) → God Fear (The Multiplier) → His Word → Knowledge → Understanding → Wisdom → Identity → Authority → Decision → Outcome → Reality → Readjustment → Corrective Decision → Life

I. Truth Is the Only Thing That Actually Governs Human Behavior

John 18:37-38 – 37Pilate therefore said to Him, “Are You a king then?” Jesus answered, “You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” 38Pilate said to Him, “What is truth?” And when he had said this, he went out again to the Jews, and said to them, “I find no fault in Him at all.”

• You follow the voice of whatever you are OF.

• "What is truth?" is not a philosophical question for the unbeliever.

II. God Is Not Just Truthful – He is Truth Itself

John 17:17 – Sanctify them by Your truth. Your word is truth.

• Jesus is not asking the Father to use truth – He is declaring that the Word IS truth.

• Truth is not a concept – It is a person.

Matthew 10:28 – “And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Matthew 7:21-23 – 21“Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. 22Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ 23And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”

Proverbs 9:10 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.

I. God Fear Requires the One True God

John 17:3 – “And this is eternal life, that they may know You, THE ONLY TRUE GOD, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent.”

• Nobody is just afraid, and nobody just believes.

James 2:19 – You believe that there is ONE GOD. You do well. Demons also believe— and tremble!

• Your FEAR exposes the counterfeit nature of your God.

Genesis 3:9-10 – Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, “Where are you?” So he said, “I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was AFRAID because I was naked; and I hid myself.”

Hebrews 2:14-15 – Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through FEAR of death were ALL THEIR LIFETIME subject to BONDAGE.

WHATEVER YOU FEAR GOVERNS YOU.

1) GOD FEAR

2) GOOD FEAR

3) GROUNDLESS FEAR

I. Fear is a THRONE Issue; It Identifies Perceived Power

Mark 4:29 – “But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, BECAUSE THE HARVEST HAS COME.”

Leviticus 19:9-10 – 9“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God.”

I. The WINNOWING Process

Your First Instinct Says, “KEEP IT”; But God Says, “LET IT GO”.

Matthew 3:12 – “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

• Stop calling loss what God calls chaff.

What are you calling loss right now that God has already labeled chaff?

• Don't blame the wind when it’s God holding the fan.

Matthew 3:12a – His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor

Are you angry or struggling with the circumstances that God personally authorized?

• Stop exhausting yourself fighting for chaff.

What are you still fighinng for that God has already let go of?

Mark 4:29 – “But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, BECAUSE THE HARVEST HAS COME.”

Leviticus 19:9-10 – 9“When you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not wholly reap the corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. 10And you shall not glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather every grape of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the poor and the stranger: I am the LORD your God.”

I. The WINNOWING Process

Your First Instinct Says, “KEEP IT”; But God Says, “LET IT GO”.

Matthew 3:12 – “His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.”

• Stop calling loss what God calls chaff.

What are you calling loss right now that God has already labeled chaff?

• Don't blame the wind when it’s God holding the fan.

Matthew 3:12a – His winnowing fan is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor

Are you angry or struggling with the circumstances that God personally authorized?

• Stop exhausting yourself fighting for chaff.

What are you still fighinng for that God has already let go of?

Mark 4:26-29— 26 And He said, “The kingdom of God is as if a man should scatter seed on the ground, 27 and should sleep by night and rise by day, and the seed should sprout and grow, he himself does not know how. 28 For the earth yields crops by itself: first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head. 29 But when the grain ripens, immediately he puts in the sickle, because the harvest has come.”

Genesis 1:28—Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

I. Process #1: REAPING — Release from the Field

• The Sickle Announces That Your Season Has Changed

• The Sickle Separates You from the Place that Produced You

Genesis 12:1—Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, from your family and from your father’s house, to a land that I will show you.”

THE 1ST DECISION OF THE HARVEST: You must release what God has finished using in your growth.