THE GREATEST FEAR
It is August, 587 B.C. Fear is gripping thousands upon thousands of people.
Ezekiel 21:1 “And the word of the LORD came to me saying, 2“Son of man, set your face toward Jerusalem, and speak against the sanctuaries and prophesy against the land of Israel; 3and say to the land of Israel, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Behold, I am against you; and I will draw My sword out of its sheath and cut off from you the righteous and the wicked. 4“Because I will cut off from you the righteous and the wicked, therefore My sword will go forth from its sheath against all flesh from south to north. 5“Thus all flesh will know that I, the LORD, have drawn My sword out of its sheath. It will not return to its sheath again.”’ 6“As for you, son of man, groan with breaking heart and bitter grief, groan in their sight. 7“And when they say to you, ‘Why do you groan?’ you shall say, ‘Because of the news that is coming; and every heart will melt, all hands will be feeble, every spirit will faint and all knees will be weak as water. Behold, it comes and it will happen,’ declares the Lord GOD.”
Debilitating fear. Incapacitating fear. Fear of the unknown. The people of Israel simply hear the news about a coming judgment which is so terrible that the news alone will cause their hearts to fail, their hands will become feeble and their knees will collapse from the fear of what is coming.
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It is November, 2020 A.D. and fear is gripping the hearts and minds of millions upon millions of people around the world. A virus which statistics show has a fairly low infection rate and an extremely low mortality rate, is creating fear which rules the hearts and minds of millions and millions of people.
The CDC reports, since January 1, 2020, 11,650,817 total cases in the US, with 185.095 new cases, 251,715 deaths with 2,045 new deaths. That makes
A 3.5% infection rate of the US Population; a 2.2% death rate of those infected since 1/1/2020; The last 7 days the NEW infection rate is .01 % A 1% death rate on NEW functions
Debilitating fear. Incapacitating fear. Fear of the unknown.
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I have friends and there are people I know who are Charismatic or Word of Faith or Pentecostal in their belief system and for decades these dear folks bragged, “I do not fear anything because my The Lord is my strength and my shield!” They deny sickness can affect them. These same folks warm me to “never give a negative confession” because it will bring on trouble and that we are not a people of fear!” I love these folks. I love what they say. I love their strong convictions.
THEN ALONG COMES THE CORONAVIRUS
Since the Coronavirus ‘pandemic’ started, I can’t find many of these same “faith folks”. It seems most of them are hiding, or as they call it, “staying safe at home”. I don’t immediately recognize many of the ones I can find because they are wearing masks and avoiding others! (Many of them even wear masks while driving alone in a car!)
When I ask them about their behavior, they openly admit they are “Afraid to death of catching the coronavirus”.
Dear friends, this recent ‘pandemic’ is just a test. The real trial is yet to come and you are failing this test, badly!
Jesus has said, in Matthew 24:6. “You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not yet the end.
7“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be famines and earthquakes.
8“But all these things are merely the beginning of birth pangs.
9“Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name.
10“At that time many will fall away and will betray one another and hate one another.
11“Many false prophets will arise and will mislead many.
12“Because lawlessness is increased, most people’s love will grow cold.
13“But the one who endures to the end, he will be saved.”
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Matthew 24:25 “There will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and on the earth dismay among nations, in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves,
26 men will be fainting from fear and the expectation of the things which are coming upon the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken.
27 “Then they will see THE SON OF MAN COMING IN A CLOUD with power and great glory.
Luke21:25 “But when these things begin to take place, straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near.”
Dismay among the nations. People fainting from fear at the expectation of things coming upon the earth, calling upon the mountains to fall on them and hide them from what His coming.
For those days will be a time of terror and tribulation such as has not occurred since the beginning of the creation, until now, and never will be again!
This time of tribulation leading up to Daniel’s 70th Week, things will go much differently than ever before; and things will end much differently than ever before – This is the prelude to the End of the Age
Nothing like this has ever happened.
There have been foreshadowing events, but nothing in the magnitude or terror as what is coming.
Nothing like this will ever happen again.
You have the promise that if you endure to the end, you will be saved.
You may be killed or martyred for your faith in and testimony of Christ, but, you will not perish.
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DO NOT FEAR WHAT THE WORLD FEARS
Isaiah 8:11 says, “For thus the LORD spoke to me with mighty power and instructed me not to walk in the way of this people, saying,
v12 “You are not to say, ‘It is a conspiracy’ in regard to all that this people call a conspiracy, and you are not to fear what they fear or be in dread of it. DO NOT FEAR WHAT COMES UPON YOU
Job lamented this truth “For what I fear comes upon me, and what I dread befalls me.” (Job 3:25)
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YOUR GREATEST FEAR IS OF GOD, ALONE
“It is the LORD of hosts whom you should regard as holy. And He shall be your fear, And He shall be your dread. V14 “Then He shall become a sanctuary” – Isaiah 8:13
The New American Standard Bible version says, “Fear Not” or “Do not be afraid”, 107 times. Similarly, the King James Version says “Fear Not” or “Do not be afraid”, 103 times.
Repetition is for emphasis and God is emphasizing that we have nothing to fear. His plan is perfect, His methods are righteous, His will be done on this earth as it is in heaven! Enter the arc of His Covenant and live!
NOW, LET’S GO AND LIVE LIKE WE BELIEVE IT!
Your Brother and Friend,
Mike Young
Joshua 1:8 “This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. 9 “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”