GROUNDLESS FEAR: THE ZERO FACTOR

I. REAL Fear has a “DO”

• The “DO” is what makes FEAR legitimate.

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.”

II. Groundless Fear has NO “DO”

• Groundless fear is a FULL Emotional and Biological response to an Empty Threat.

Proverbs 28:1 – The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.

• When the “DO” is absent, your adversaries reach for WORDS.

Ephesians 5:6 – Let no one deceive you with EMPTY WORDS, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience.

James 3:6 – And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. The tongue is so set among our members that it defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature; and it is set on fire by hell.

III. Groundless Fear – The Zero Factor

• Groundless Fear multiplied by your life equals ZERO.

Numbers 13:2 – "Send men to spy out the land of Canaan, WHICH I AM GIVING TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL; from each tribe of their fathers you shall send a man, every one a leader among them."

Numbers 13:31-33 – 31But the men who had gone up with him said, “We are not able to go up against the people, for they are stronger than we.” 32And they gave the children of Israel a bad report of the land which they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone as spies is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people whom we saw in it are men of great stature. 33There we saw the giants (the descendants of Anak came from the giants); and we were like grasshoppers IN OUR OWN SIGHT, and SO WE WERE IN THEIR SIGHT.”

Numbers 14:8-9 – 8"If the LORD delights in us, then He will bring us into this land and give it to us, 'a land which flows with milk and honey.' 9Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them."

Numbers 14:1-3 – 1So all the congregation lifted up their voices and cried, and the people wept that night. 2 And all the children of Israel complained against Moses and Aaron, and the whole congregation said to them, “If only we had died in the land of Egypt! Or if only we had died in this wilderness! 3 Why has the LORD brought us to this land to fall by the sword, that our wives and children should become victims? Would it not be better for us to return to Egypt?"

Numbers 14:29-30 – 29"The carcasses of you who have complained against Me shall fall in this wilderness, all of you who were numbered, according to your entire number, from twenty years old and above. 30Except for Caleb the son of Jephunneh and Joshua the son of Nun, you shall by no means enter the land which I swore I would make you dwell in."

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?

V. What Can God DO?

‍ ‍• Can God leave you?

Hebrews 13:5 – Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

2 Timothy 2:13 – If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.

‍ ‍• Can anything separate us from God?

Romans 8:38-39 – 38For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, 39nor 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.

• Can time change God?

Hebrews 13:8 – Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

• Can God’s promises fail?

Numbers 23:19 – “God is not a man, that He should lie, nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good?”

• Groundless fear borrows your ground because it has none of its own.

Isaiah 26:3 – "You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You."

Psalm 27:1 – The LORD is my light and my salvation; Whom shall I fear? The LORD is the strength of my life; Of whom shall I be afraid?